Soldiers And Spies
by DarylDixon'sLover
Summary: Bucky is recaptured by HYDRA where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky?
1. Experiment

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 1

* * *

James Buchanan Barnes found himself being wheeled into what looked like the operation room where he had been given his cybernetic arm years ago.

That was when he saw a light blonde haired woman lying on a table; she was clearly out of it as he saw two doctors operating on the poor young girl.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Bucky asked suspiciously as he found himself being strapped down onto the table, like he was some feral animal.

"Something that will make Miss Nikolayev stronger, and with any luck not fail like you have so many times." A scientist answered as he plunged a needle into his arm and knocked Bucky out, before beginning his experiment on him.

Bucky woke up what seemed like hours later and saw the young blonde haired young woman from earlier. She was leaning up against her bed looking pale and tired. He thought for a moment he must be dreaming because she looked like an angel.

"So you're the infamous Winter Soldier?" She spoke quietly.

"That's what they call me." He replied gruffly as he struggled to sit up, the effects of the drug still lingering in his system.

"I've heard a lot about you. You are quite the legend where I'm from. I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or afraid of you." She stated bluntly.

"Neither."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"I'm not that man anymore."

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" She asked sceptically.

"Believe what you want, but it's the truth. Whatever they did to me, to make me forget, it wasn't permanent. I know who I am now. I know the difference between right and wrong. More importantly I know the difference between my friends and my enemies. So which are you?"

"I guess that makes us friends. I'm just as much a pawn in their sick little game as you are. So if you are no longer going by The Winter Soldier, then who are you?"

"James Buchanan Barnes." He stated proudly as he stood up and stretched a hand out to her. "But you can call me Bucky, everyone does."

She climbed off her bed and took a couple of steps toward him grasping his hand gently and giving it a small shake. "Pleased to me you."

"And you are?" He asked curiously.

"Evangeline Nikolayev, but I go by Eva."

"It's nice to meet you Eva, why are you here?" Bucky asked quietly as he looked at the light blonde haired young woman who had deep blue eyes and was wearing black sweatpants and a grey tank top.

"I was on the run for three years but they caught me last night and dragged me here. They did something to me, but I don't know what." Eva said bitterly as she rubbed the left side of her temple as if she had a throbbing headache.

Bucky looked at her quietly, she looked young and it made him dread to think of what HYDRA had done to her. Eva looked like she was in her early to mid-twenties and he detected a slight, Russian accent then.

"How old are you?" Bucky asked curiously as he looked at his metal arm and then at the star that was painted on it.

"Twenty five years old." Eva said quietly.

"Did they do stuff to you as well?" She asked quietly and Bucky was silent as he looked at his metal right arm then.

"They experimented on me years ago, made me stronger somehow. I survived a horrible fall that surely would have killed me otherwise. They caught me again, gave me a cybernetic arm. They made me into a killer and wiped my memory after each assassination." Bucky informed her darkly. "You're Russian right?"

"Yes?" She replied somewhat questioningly.

"So how is it that a young Russian girl managed to get involved with HHYDRA three years ago? You said you have been on the run for three years. I assume you meant from HYDRA?" He asked intently.

"Have you ever heard of the Red Room?"

"I know what it is, yeah."

"Well that's where I was trained from a young age as an assassin. See Bucky, you and I are a lot alike." She told him.

"I'm beginning to see that."

"Well they had me assassinate one of HYDRA's lead scientists. And of course, HYDRA did not take too kindly to that. They have hunted me ever since."

"Wow. And your… employers? Did they not help you?" He asked quietly.

"As far as the Red Room cared, I fulfilled my mission. If I was caught or killed in the aftermath of it, it was none of their concern." She said bluntly.

"That's pretty cold."

"That's life as an assassin." She said with a sarcastic kind of laugh.

"Before that, I was their top assassin after the famous Black Widow who had been a legend in the Red Room. All of us were trained to look up to her and I did too." She added quietly as her lips twisted into a small smile.

Bucky noticed that she was playing around with a silver necklace around her neck, she looked tired and slightly unstable.

Then again so was he.

"You're only a girl still." Bucky said finally as he looked at her, she was much younger than the red head woman that he had fought two weeks ago, she two was Red room trained.

"Well they train us young in the Red Room."

The door opened then and two men dragged them out of the cell, before pushing them into what looked like a training room. Bucky felt his nerves go on edge.

This wasn't good.

"Let's see how strong you are after being on the run." A voice said calmly over a speaker and Bucky looked at Eva quietly.

She sighed.

"So you want us to fight?"

"Yes." The voice replied coldly.

"No... No I won't do it!" Eva yelled back.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Bucky added.

"I guess we are going to have to do this the hard way then." The voice told them.

Before either of them had a chance to even begin to think about what the hard way might be, a couple of men armed with guns came marching through the door. They both pointed their guns at Bucky. "You will fight him, or we will kill him."

Eva looked at Bucky with pleading eyes. She didn't want to fight him. She had spent so much of her life hurting people, killing people that she knew probably didn't deserve it and she was done with that. She wasn't that person anymore. Not after the Red Room sold her out on what turned out to be a suicide mission to kill the Hydra scientist.

"I can't!" Eva shook her head, directing her words to Bucky rather than the men in the room.

"Do it... or he dies." The man said cocking his gun back and aiming it straight for Bucky's head.

"Eva... you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just let them kill me."

"No Bucky, I can't just let you die. But I don't want to hurt you either."

"We don't have much of choice here Eva."

"I've had enough of this game. You either fight him or he dies... your choice." The guard spoke again. Eva looked Bucky in the eyes, a tear slipping down her face and she nodded to him to say that she would fight him and that she was sorry for any damage she was about to inflict on him. "Ok he dies in 3...2..."

"Wait!" Eva yelled as she thrust her hands forward in a signal to stop. Only something strange happened and both of the men went flying across the room, smacking into the far wall and crumpling in a heap on the floor.

"Eva..." Bucky whispered. "What did they do to you?"

"I... I don't know." She replied as she looked down at her hands in confusion.

Before either of them could do anything more men came busting through the door and the both of them were shot with tranquiliser darts. The last thing Bucky saw as he hit the ground was Eva being dragged off by one of the men.

* * *

Steve Rodgers took a deep breath as he looked at Clint and Natasha who both insisted on coming with him to rescue Bucky. He owed them a lot for offering to do this.

"Neither of you have to come with me, you know that right?" Steve asked seriously and they both just nodded as Natasha placed a map on the table.

"Bucky is being held in this room, in a base located in underground Berlin. HYDRA may try to wipe his mind...or." Natasha said gravely as she looked at Steve sadly.

"They might try to kill him if he doesn't co-operate." Steve finished for her and he sighed heavily.

"Tony not coming?" Natasha asked quietly.

Steve clenched his jaw, remembering how Tony had reacted to Steve wanting to save Bucky from HYDRA. Not that Tony cared, as far as he was concerned Bucky needed to face his crimes and face justice. Never mind that he wasn't himself at the time.

Steve knew Bucky was innocent, knew that he wanted to make amends as he grabbed his shield which was still scratched and scraped from his fight with HYDRA at S.H.E.I.L.D headquarters.

Natasha nodded in reply, she and Clint began to prepare the Quinjet for their mission.

 _'I'm coming Bucky, hang on.'_ Steve thought.

* * *

Eva woke up to see that she was wearing black leggings and a grey sports bra, she felt a little sick knowing that some pervert had redressed her. As she looked around she saw she was in a ballet studio, much like the one at the Red Room. Just then Bucky was dragged in and thrown to the ground.

"Maybe this time, you will both cooperate with us." The voice from the speaker said coldly and Eva knew right then, that they were being watched. She looked at Bucky who was slightly bruised and banged up.

"At least they're not making us kill each other, hey?" She said humourlessly. "Bucky, I don't want to do this." She whispered quietly so they wouldn't hear.

"I know Eva, nor do I. But we have to play their game, at least for now until we figure a way out of here." He replied grimly. "Now hit me, and make it good. Put on a show for these bastards."

Reluctantly Eva did as he told her. She drew back her fist and swung really hard until her fist connected with Bucky's face, pulling back just a little on impact so she didn't hurt him too much but it still looked like she was trying. Bucky absorbed the blow as best he could, barely losing his footing. Whatever Zola had done to him way back when he was in the army had made him a bit like Steve. He was stronger, and could take a lot more punishment than your average man. He guessed that was why Hydra were so intent on getting their hands on him again. To finish off their little experiments that Steve had so rudely interrupted when he stormed the Hydra base and freed all the men.

As much as he didn't want to hurt Eva he had to play along so he ducked down and swept his leg around behind her feet making her fall to the floor. They wrestled on the ground before he let Eva get the upper hand. She straddled him on the ground and began to land punch after punch to his torso and face. Most of them Bucky was able to block but he let the odd one slip through just for good measure.

Quickly he turned the tables on her pinning her to the floor. Unfortunately that was a bad move as it ignited a primal sort of fear within her and she began to panic. Before she knew what had happened a surge of power radiated from her body throwing Bucky off of her and halfway across the room.

She got up quickly and ran to him. "Bucky are you ok? I'm so sorry. I... I don't know what happened." She whispered. But Bucky was unconscious and she got no reply. "Shit." She whispered horrified.

Standing up she yelled out to whoever was watching. "Are you happy now!? Get what you wanted!?"

"Very much thank you Nikolayev, but you are not done yet… continue." The voice said as Bucky began stirring for a moment and groaned before waking. Eva walked over to him and helped him up.

"Are you alright?" She whispered quietly and Bucky nodded reassuringly at her, he had a slight headache but aside from that, he was okay.

"I'm fine. I suppose they want us to continue to fight?" Bucky asked grimly and Eva nodded in reply. As they began fighting again Bucky pinned her to the wall, but Eva kicked him back and doing a graceful back flip to put some distance between them.

Bucky kicked at her hands, knocking her off balance and he grabbed her by the legs throwing her against the side banister. Eva stood up and punched him, causing him to dodge her, but she kicked him, making him to stagger slightly.

Undeterred but impressed by her fighting skills, Bucky grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, causing her to crumple in a heap.

Two hunting knives were dropped down into the room then through an air vent, Bucky grabbed his one while Eva grabbed hers and they began practising their combat training against each other.

Eva tried to stab him in his metal arm, but he blocked her and pushed her away as he swiped his blade in her direction. She side kicked him, knocking him backwards. Grabbing her knife in her dominant hand she tried to stab him, but ended up cutting the wall.

They continued to slash and stab at one another, all to please these bastards pulling their strings and using them as their puppets. Neither one of them wanted to hurt the other, but they knew they had to do this or they would be killed.

Bucky kicked her knife from her hand and flipped her over, pinning her to the floor with his metal arm. She struggled against him but it was no use, she couldn't match his power. He studied her face as he held her there, in that moment he realized how truly beautiful she was. If the circumstances were different he would definitely be making some suggestive joke about their current situation, the way he was straddling her on the floor. But he knew now was not the time for that.

He looked at her with mercy as he brought the knife high in the air, hoping that she would understand that he wanted her to dodge his attack. With all his strength he plunged the knife downwards towards her chest, but at the same time he released his hold on her slightly with his cybernetic arm, just enough that she would be able to get out from underneath him. She caught his drift and as the knife came plummeting towards her she threw he body upwards knocking Bucky off slightly, just enough to roll out from beneath him as the knife was lodged securely into the floor.

She followed up with a swift kick to his side as he tried to remove the knife from the floor to mount his next attack, but it was stuck and there was no way it was coming out. And now they were down to just one knife.

Eva grabbed her knife and looked at Bucky who nodded at her as she swung it at his neck, but he grabbed her right hand and forced her to drop it onto the ground again.

He then grabbed it and tried to stab her but she did a backflip, avoiding his attack and kicked him in the stomach. Bucky staggered back slightly. He lunged toward her tackling her to the ground. He grabbed her by the arms, pinning her onto the floor as the people watched from the video camera in the room.

* * *

"They're evenly matched, Dr Wolfgang." A young man informed him and he nodded in approval as he watched the two fight against each other for a while.

"Tell them to leave the knives and to now use their physical bodies against each other, I was wrong about the Winter Soldier, he may still be of value to us." Viktor said thoughtfully as his fellow scientist Edward Carson spoke over the speakers and instructed them to fight using psychical strength.

He knew was getting close to making the ultimate weapon.

* * *

Bucky knocked Eva off her feet, sending her onto the ground for a moment but she quickly got back up and punched him in the face. He grabbed her by the waist and threw her to the side, she faltered slightly but jumped back up ready to continue. She then ran at him and did a roundhouse kick, he dodged it and grabbed her by the throat with his metal arm.

"That will do…" The voice called out over the speaker. "That was a fine display, but we need you both intact."

Bucky and Eva looked at one another wondering what these psychopaths had in store for them next.

* * *

 _Enjoy :)_


	2. Abandoned

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 2

* * *

A swarm of men burst through the doors and once again took down the duo with tranq darts, dragging them off to the scientists and doctors to be experimented on further.

* * *

Eva woke several hours later, back in the cell that she shared with Bucky. She looked over to find him sprawled out on his bed, still unconscious. Her head hurt like hell. Being in this place was like a nightmare. Sure she had been trained to handle torture, but this was at a whole other level. They weren't beating her but messing with her brain, messing with her DNA. She felt like some kind of lab rat. She sat up slowly, allowing her body time to work through the last of the sedative in her system. When she felt ok she moved over to her new friend.

"Bucky," she whispered as she shook his arm. "Bucky wake up."

Bucky groaned in response as scrunched up his face as he started to come to. He looked up at Eva, whose face was very pale. "You ok?" He questioned, a little worried about her.

"I'm alright… are you?"

"Yeah, I think so." He replied still feeling groggy from the drugs.

"We have to find a way out of here Bucky. I don't know how much more of their experiments I can take." She told him.

"I know. Well the good news is that they seem to need us alive so they won't kill us. Have you managed to see any way we could escape?"

"Not really. Those bastards keep drugging me before they take me anywhere. I never get a chance to see much of anything. All I've seen is rooms, not the hallways that connect them."

"Me either. This is slightly problematic." He replied. The sad look on her face almost broke his heart. "Don't worry Eva, we will work something out. I promise I will get us out of here."

"I believe you, Bucky." Eva said softly and sat down on the bed. She found two blankets, handing one to him he took it gratefully and they both lay down on the lumpy mattress of Bucky's bed, trying to get some rest.

Bucky felt exhausted and mentally drained as he looked at Eva who was starting to look very sleepy, her chest rising and falling as she pulled the hair band from her hair.

Her hair was a deep blonde and it gently curled around her shoulders, he could actually feel the tips of the strands tickling him as he closed his eyes for a while.

"Eva." He said quietly and Eva opened her eyes and glanced at him.

"Yeah?" She asked quietly.

"I am going to get us out of here, I swear to you that I will get you out of here." Bucky promised and Eva felt her eyes burn with tears, she nodded and squeezed his hand tightly.

He squeezed it back, noticing how she didn't seem afraid of his cybernetic left arm. Upon looking at it closer he noticed that it had been upgraded while he'd been unconscious, he'd be sure to test it out when he woke again.

 _'I'm gonna get us out of here.'_ He mentally promised her.

 _'I know you will, but how are we going to escape this hell hole?'_ She replied, but she hadn't even opened her mouth.

Eva blinked in shock and Bucky just stared at her.

"Eva?" He spoke out loud, sitting up slightly to look at her. "Did you just communicate with me telepathically?"

"I... I guess so. I mean I heard you somehow. It's not like I was trying to read your thoughts... it... it just happened." She stuttered nervously. Worried that he would think she was prying into his mind.

"It's ok." He reassured her. "I guess this is a new thing since they last experimented on you. This is getting really crazy."

"Tell me about it. I can read minds. I'm like some sort of circus freak." She sighed.

"Eva, you're not a freak. Not at all."

"I just don't know what to think or feel anymore."

"I know. All of this is weird. But try not to think about it. I'm here for you, whatever you need. I'll do my best to protect you from these guys okay."

"Thank you Bucky. I just want to..." She trailed off as she lay back down on his bed with her back pressed against his chest, needing to feel some sort of comfort in that moment.

"It's ok." He reassured her as he stretched an arm protectively over her and listened to the steady rhythm of her breathing.

Eva had fallen asleep and Bucky leaned his head back as he made a vow to himself to get the both of them out of this hell they had been forced into. He held her tighter and tried to get some rest as well. Neither of them had noticed, that they were holding hands as they slept.

* * *

The next morning was gruelling, they'd been dragged outside into a forest but luckily they were given warm clothes to wear for the slightly cold weather.

"What do you want us to do?" Bucky asked suspiciously.

"You will be fighting together against two agents who have betrayed our cause, you are to take them out." The man instructed and left them. Eva looked at her uniform then and noticed that it was similar to the one that she had worn in her Red Room days, only this one was black and had purple piping that glowed.

"Begin!" The voice on the speaker commanded harshly. Eva was really starting to hate that god damned voice.

The two agents had their bounds cut and were pushed towards Bucky and Eva. They clearly looked worried about being set upon by these Hydra experiments, but they knew what they had to do to survive, as did the two captives.

Bucky was becoming tired of these constant tests. If they were trying to make him loyal to HYDRA once again it was never going to happen. That ship had long since sailed. They had screwed him over enough, and now that he had regained his memory he would do anything not to lose who he was again.

He charged at one of the agents tackling him to the ground before landing punch after punch to his face. The agent pushed Bucky off and scampered to the side to regain his composure. He stood back up and charged Bucky and the two of them fought for the upper hand.

Meanwhile Eva had begun to fight with the second agent. She was easily able to take him to the ground. Her strength was increasing with what the scientists had been doing to her. But it wasn't just an increase in strength that she felt, something was different. Within her mind, within her body. God only knows what they had done to her, but these crazy things that had been happening to her lately she wasn't sure if any of it was good.

* * *

The Quinjet landed a mile out from the Hydra base while in stealth mode. Steve, Clint and Natasha began to go over their plan to rescue Bucky. Through Natasha's connections she had managed to get some inside intel on the layout of the underground facility so they knew exactly where Bucky was being held and how to get there. What they didn't know was what or who they would be up against once they got there, and that was worrying.

* * *

After struggling for a few minutes and exchanging multiple blows the first agent was looking much worse for wear, but Bucky was still managing to hold his own. When the agent grabbed a hold of him, Bucky flipped him around, holding him in a headlock he cut of his air supply until he was on the brink of passing out.

"Finish him!" The voice ordered harshly.

Bucky sighed, he never wanted to kill again, but there was only one way he was getting out of this. With one swift movement he snapped the agent's neck and threw his body to the ground. He looked over to Eva who was struggling a little with the other agent. He had her pinned. Bucky rushed to help her but before he could Eva let out a piercing scream and the agent was flung high in the air then came crashing back down hard.

"Very good work Miss Nikolayev... now end him." The voice spoke once more.

She looked at Bucky hesitantly and he just nodded to her as if to say it's ok, it's what needs to be done. Eva approached the lifeless body of the agent and gave his head a sharp twist, breaking his neck just like Bucky had done to the other.

Eva began breathing heavily, trying to comprehend the fact that she had just taken a man's life. She nodded at Bucky who nodded back and the men reappeared to take them back to the base. They were escorted back into the ballet studio, that he been transformed into a makeshift gun range where they saw guns were lying on the table.

"Now begin showing us how well you can shoot." The voice said coldly and they began shooting at the fake targets with the pistols that had been given to them.

Bucky was easily able to use a gun as he had plenty of military training. Eva was pretty quickly getting the hang of it and it didn't take long for her to become a good shot.

"You both did well the knives yesterday, so begin again." The voice instructed as they were handed dummy training knives by the guards.

They began their fight much like the day before, dancing around one another, slashing and stabbing. At least this time they couldn't do much damage. Bucky figured that they didn't want them hurting each other and compromising any plans for future experiments. This was purely for training and assessment of their skills.

Eva pushed Bucky away from her with a knife, but he shoved her onto her back, she jumped up and twisted her knife for a minute before charging at him again.

She slashed at his metal arm, but he blocked her attack and pushed her up against the wall.

As the two continued their knife fight a loud explosion could be heard coming from somewhere above them in the compound. It was quickly followed by the sound of distant gunfire.

"Get them back to their cell!" The voice over the speaker yelled. Two men came rushing through the doors and dragged them both off at gunpoint. As they neared the cell Bucky decided that this was the opportunity they has been waiting for. This was their chance to escape. He hoped that Eva was tapped into his thoughts again as he tried to communicate with her.

 _'Eva, if you can hear me this is our shot.'  
_  
 _'I hear you Bucky. What do we do?'  
_  
 _'As we reach the cell and they let their guard down, I will take one guy out with the door. You handle the other okay?'_

 _'Okay. I got it.'_

Just as planned as they reached the cell and were being escorted inside Bucky used his metal arm to swing the door back as hard as he could smashing the guard in the face. As he hit the ground with a thud the other began to point his pistol at Bucky.

"No!" Eva yelled as she held her hands up. The guards arm began to tremble as he fought for control of his limb, but Eva was too strong. She used her new found powers to make him aim the gun at his own head. A mere distraction as Bucky got close enough to knock him out. She didn't want to kill again unless she absolutely had to.

"Let's get out of here." Bucky said as he grabbed her hand and they began to run down the corridor.

They took out more soldiers as they made their bid for escape from HYDRA as they made their way through a series of corridors. They held each other's hands tightly as more HYDRA soldiers emerged, Eva used her telekinesis powers to knock them out by throwing them up against the ceiling. As they saw another team of men file in the door in front of them one took the opportunity to fire an RPG at them.

"GET DOWN!" Bucky yelled quickly and threw himself over Eva as debris flew everywhere. Half of the wall exploded but his shot was pretty lousy as Eva had used to powers to knock him off balance and he ended up killing a few of his own men in the process.

* * *

"Shit! We're gonna have to fight our way out, Eva." Bucky said grimly as he grabbed a gun from of the dead men, Eva nodded and grabbed herself a weapon, a colt python, and they began shooting their way out. As they made their way closer to the door Eva got shot in the left side causing her to yell out in pain before taking her shooter down.

"Damnit!" Eva cursed angrily as she clutched her bleeding side.

Bucky ran over to her and picked her up and put her over his shoulder. As he ran with her towards the fire exit and up the stairwell, Eva covered his back by shooting at the others with her colt python which she seemed to excel at using.

"Almost there Eva!" Bucky called out quickly, worried about how much blood she might be losing.

"Just hang on a little longer Eva. I'll get us out of here I promise" He told her. As he made his way up the stairs with Eva thrown over his shoulder, held securely in place with his metal arm he found himself surrounded by more HYDRA agents. A group of them were closing in from a couple floors above, and another group had emerged from the door below where they had come from.

As he raised his gun to fire upon the men below, shots rang out from above him. He looked up to see a light brown haired man abseiling down the middle of the stairwell using a bow and arrow, holding tightly onto the red head woman he a fought a while back. She was dual wielding her pistols and took out the whole gang of Hydra agents they were descending the stairs toward them.

The red head emptied her magazines and as the pair of them continued down she threw a few small disc like things from her belt which emitted some kind of electric pulse rendering the other agents unconscious. The two of them landed on the bottom level and the man unhooked his bow from the zipline.

Bucky raced down the stairs towards the pair but before he had a chance to ask them what they were doing there he heard the distinctive noise of someone else speeding down the zip line. He looked up just in time to see a man release his hold on the line a few metres up and land on the ground in front of him, a shield tucked firmly on his arm. He would recognize that shield anywhere.

"Steve!?"

"Bucky." Steve smiled in relief. "Duck!" He ordered and Bucky ducked, putting Eva behind him as Steve threw his shield at a few HYDRA agents that had entered the stairwell through the door, knocking them off their feet as Steve charged at them knocking them out cold.

"New friend?" He asked nodding at Eva. "I think there's a story here but the Quinjet's outside and we don't have time." Steve said quickly and Bucky nodded as he was tossed a Smith and Wesson pistol, he fired it at few HYDRA agents making their way down the stairs and he picked Eva up again and she covered his back with her new favourite gun.

They raced up a few more flights of stairs, Bucky held on tightly to Eva and she gripped his shoulder.

"I'm guessing these are friends of yours, soldiers?" Eva asked as she shot at another HYDRA soldier while using her telekinesis on another.

"Steve is and the other two must be friends of his, spies I think." Bucky answered as they neared closer to the exit.

"That makes sense, because I'm pretty sure the red head is the famous Black Widow. I never met her, but they showed us pictures of her in the Red Room when I was younger, before she went rogue." Eva said hurriedly.

They raced through a door and into a small hallway down as they were chased by more HYDRA agents with RPGS. One of them let off a shot and blew up part of the roof over their heads.

"GET DOWN!" Steve yelled as he tried to protect both himself, Clint and Natasha with his shield.

Debris scattered everywhere, knocking Bucky off his feet and sending Eva flying from his shoulders. Bucky frantically searched for her as they were covered in clouds of dust. "Eva!" He yelled out, only to be met with the sounds of her screams.

"Eva!" He yelled again as the dust began to settle he started to be able to see the damage the RPG had done. That's when he saw Eva, she was pinned to the ground by a large concrete pillar. He ran to her, and with all the strength he had, he tried to move the solid concrete from her body, but it was no use.

"Steve! I need your help!" He yelled out to his friend who was busy fighting off another horde of Hydra agents with the other two members of his team. The red haired woman became over powered and was stabbed by one of the HYDRA men. Her partner rushed to her, taking out three guys in the process and assessed her wound.

"Steve, Nat's hurt pretty bad. We gotta go... Now! Get Bucky!"

Steve ran to Bucky's aid and tried to help him lift the concrete that was crushing the young blonde haired woman. The two men struggled as they put all their strength into lifting, but it only moved an inch. Not enough to get her out. "Bucky... I'm sorry, we can't..." Steve trailed off.

"I can't leave her, Steve!"

"Just go Bucky." Eva choked out. "Please... just leave me. Get out of here!" She begged pleadingly.

"No Eva, I won't leave you!"

"If you stay all of this was for nothing. Please... save yourself. I'll be ok." She tried to reassure him.

"Buck... I know you don't want to, but we gotta go now."

Bucky yelled out in frustration. He had been through so much with Eva and he had promised that he would get her out of there, and now he was going to have to leave her behind. God knows what HYDRA would do to her now. That's if she even survived her injuries. Bucky grabbed her face and kissed her desperately and passionately. "I will come back for you Eva. Please be strong. I need you to be strong for me okay. Wherever they take you, I will find you and I will save you... I swear." He whispered as a tear slid from his eye.

"I know you will." She replied as she planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Now go, before it's too late."

Reluctantly Bucky got up and ran after Steve, looking back at Eva one last time before they left the corridor following the other two out of the building, taking anyone out who stood in their way as they made it back to the Quinjet. Bucky felt so tired as he flopped onto the floor. Exhausted from the fight, and distraught that he had to leave Eva behind.

* * *

Two scientists wheeled Eva into an operating room which was overseen by Wolfgang Von Strucker. He watched as the two surgeons operated on the young blonde haired woman to rebuild the broken bones in her legs, which had been caused by the explosion.

"Project Psyche is ready to start." Wolfgang informed his partner Eleanor who had just entered the room. She smiled triumphantly as she watched them operate on the young woman and wipe her mind clean of any recent memories.

They remade her bones with vibranium metal and studied her condition for at least five hours, before being satisfied with the fact that Evangeline Nikolayev had survived the procedure.

They finally had their ultimate weapon. They now had Psyche.

* * *

 _Review and enjoy :)_


	3. Losing Your Memory

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 3

* * *

Bucky had been numb ever since they had landed at the Avengers Tower, he had let Eva down and he honestly felt like a monster when he looked at himself in the mirror.

 _'You left her behind, you bastard.'_ The voice in his head told him and he clenched his metal hand angrily.

He hated himself.

He had made her a promise. He said he would get her out of there, and then what did he do? Go back on his word and left her behind with those monsters. He shuddered to think what they were doing to her. In a fit of rage he slammed his fist into the mirror, shattering the glass. He watched as the shards fell to the floor. He felt just a broken as that mirror, Bucky wasn't sure if he could ever be fixed. At least not until he righted his wrongs.

He stormed out of the bathroom and went in search of Steve. He found him working out in the gym. Of course. Where else would a huge muscly super soldier be? "Steve!" He called out to his friend over the sound of him beating a punching back furiously.

"Hey Buck." He greeted as he stopped and took a break. "How ya feeling?"

"Seen better days man."

"Yeah, I know how that is." Steve replied quietly.

"Please, tell me you have something. I need to find her Steve it's driving me crazy."

"I know Buddy. I'm sorry we had to leave her behind, but I promise we will find her. We have narrowed the location to Freiburg, Germany. They didn't exactly go far. I'll know more soon when Natasha hears back from her source." he reassured his friend. "You never did tell me Buck, what is the story with you and Eva?"

"She was there when I got captured by HYDRA, they were experimenting on her when I first saw her. Eva had been on the run from them as she had killed one of their top scientists. They caught her after three years. She was trained like Natasha was." Bucky explained quietly as Steve nodded in understanding.

"You mean the Red Room Program?" Steve asked wearily, he'd heard about it form Natasha as well as Sharon and Nick Fury after exposing every one of their secrets to the public.

"Yeah, that. Eva got left out in the cold after performing the hit for them and went on the run for three years before HYDRA finally caught up to her. She was forced to fight against me in the training rooms, we'd have to fight each other in every way. They were studying us, assessing our strength and skills." Bucky said bitterly and fell silent.

"Eva saved me. She kept me sane during those weeks in the cell. They experimented on us both countless times. She had been given superpowers somehow, she began having telepathic episodes and strange things happened when she got scared or angry, I think they were trying to make her into a super soldier. I promised her that I'd get her out, she hated killing for them and now I've left her there to rot." He said in self-hatred as he looked at his metal arm.

"Buck, this isn't your fault. We're gonna find her, I promise." Steve said comfortingly as Clint came in accompanied by an unhappy looking Tony.

"Tasha's got something for us." Clint said quietly as he led them into the main room where Natasha was with Pepper.

Eva's face was on the computer screen.

"I got in contact with an old colleague and she managed to dig up some information for me. Evangeline Marina Nikolayev was raised and trained in the Red Room program. According to my contact, she made a name for herself and became...very efficient in her skill set." Natasha said grimly as she handed Bucky a file on Eva along with a photo.

 _'Name: Evangeline Marina Nikolayev.'_

 _'Aliases: Eva Alikaev, Marina Alikaev_

 _Black Rose.'_

 _'Title: Spy.'_

 _'Nationality: Russian.'_

 _'Race: Caucasian.'_

 _'Age: Twenty Five.'_

 _'D.O.B: June the 24th, 1993_

 _'Hair Colour: Light Blonde.'_

 _'Eye Colour: Blue.'_

 _'Height: 5 ft. 6.'_

 _'Languages: English, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Italian, Romanian, Swiss, German and more.'_

 _'Affiliation: Soviet Government.'_

 _'Education: CLASSIFIED - Red Room Program.'_

 _'Family: Yuri Nikolayev - Father – Deceased, Olga Nikolayev - Mother - Deceased.'_

 _'Qualifications and Skills: Highly trained in Judo, Karate, Boxing, and various other styles of Martial Arts. Expert ballet dancer, gymnast and master acrobat. Master seductress, spy, assassin and expert marksman. Expert in hand to hand combat with superior knife skills. Proficient in multilingualism.'_

 _'Significant Scars: Bullet wound on her left side and a stab wound to her left arm.'_

 _'Significant Piercings: Pierced ears.'_

 _'Assassinations: Edgar Belkov, Andrea Grant, countless others.'_

 _'Weapons of choice: 'Colt Python, Black Rose's Thorn, Gerber Mark II Hunting Knife, Glock 19.'_

"Wow... that's quite the resume." Tony spoke up, and Steve agreed.

"That's pretty standard for Red Room trained operatives." Natasha added in. "But she definitely would have been top of her class in all fields by the looks of things. She must have been recruited as a young girl while I was still there."

"I know what you're thinking Nat, and there's no way you could have gotten them all out. We've talked about this. Don't beat yourself up." Clint whispered to her and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, but the others had still heard.

"I know." She replied, trying to shake the guilt from her mind. As far as she knew, she had been the only one to successfully escape the Red Room without being hunted down and killed. Of course they had tried. But every one of their agents had gone back to them in body bags.

"Look I know I was against all this in the beginning, but things have changed. I owe you guys an apology." Tony said to Steve and Bucky. "I was too quick to judge without all the facts. Steve you were just trying to help your friend, and I was a jerk about it. And Bucky, I should have believed Steve when he said you were a good man and that HYDRA must have done something to you. Now that I have gotten to know you I can see that." Tony stated. "And now that the apologies are out of the way we can stop being sappy and get down to business. I've had a couple of my unmanned suits fly to Freiburg and do some scouting and it seems they may have found the location of the Hydra base where they are holding Miss Nikolayev."

For the first time since leaving her behind, Bucky finally felt a little bit of hope that he would see her again.

"Let's go suit up and we'll see if Eva's still there!" Steve instructed. Bucky took off to go suit up in the uniform Tony had made for him. It was similar to his old one but had more holsters on it and now he could place three knives in the holsters, he put them in and grabbed a rifle and slung it over his shoulder, then he grabbed Colt Python that Eva had used in the base while fighting the HYDRA soldiers, he thought maybe it might bring him some luck.

 _'Please God, please let her be safe.'_ Bucky prayed as he finished suiting up and headed to the jet where the others were waiting and they took off with Clint and Nat at the helm.

* * *

It was five hours before they landed and cautiously entered the base, it seemed completely deserted of anyone and they cautiously entered, making their way through until they found what seemed like an operation room.

Tony studied some x - rays that had fallen under the desk, probably in the hasty escape from the facility. They were of a female skeleton, but the bone in the legs didn't look like average bone. He searched all the cupboards and draws in the office off the operating room when he came across a USB drive tucked at the back of a draw. "Guys, I might have something here!" He called out to the others. He attached the drive to his phone and brought up a video file. Cautiously he hit play.

Bucky and the others watched in silence and to their shock they saw that Eva was in the video. She was unconscious on the operating table and something was being done to her legs. Tony narrowed his eyes, remembering the x-rays he had studied.

"They're replacing her bones with Vibranium." Tony said stunned as they watched a little while longer before Bucky told them him to shut it off. He couldn't watch anymore.

The team arrived back at the HQ all feeling deflated. They had a little more information on Eva, but no clue as to her whereabouts. Bucky went straight to the gym and took his frustration out on a punching bag. The upgrade that the scientist had given him on his metal arm meant he could now strike with a lot more force and impact. Needless to say the punching bad didn't hold up very long against the angry and frustrated soldier.

"Hey Buck. You okay?" Steve asked as he entered.

"Not really." He replied as he hung his head.

"Don't worry Buddy we'll find her. Tony is with us now and he's got a lot of great tech and a lot of connections. We will get her back." He said as he clapped his friend on the back and left him to it, sensing Bucky just wanted to be alone for a while.

* * *

Natasha sat out on one of the balconies of HQ, remembering the Red Room and all the bad things that happened there. All the experiments they did, how because of her skill set as the Black Widow she was sterilised, ruining every chance she had of a normal life. They were animals. How could they do these things to other human beings?

"Nat..." Clint said as he approached her, placing an arm on her shoulder. "You good?"

"I'm fine..." She replied. She knew that he could tell she was lying. His Hawkeye vision meant he was an expert at reading minute facial expressions. He was like a human lie detector. "Actually... I'm not okay. Not at all." She admitted.

"It's alright. I'm here for you." Clint said as he grabbed her arms and pulled her to stand before wrapping his arms around her for a hug. "You're strong Nat. Stronger than anyone I know. What's happening to Eva. It's not your fault. You and I both know that we couldn't have taken down the Red Room on our own. But who knows, now that we have a team, maybe someday soon we can."

"I think I would like that." She told him.

"Me too nat... me too." He whispered as he placed a gentle kiss to her temple and continued to hold her in his protective embrace. Anyone watching their exchange would think that they were together, but they were yet to make that leap. They had grown close over the years since Clint had brought her back to SHIELD. They shared a special bond and were definitely closer than average partners were. But in their line of work it was easier not to get too attached, so they continued to lie to themselves about their feelings.

* * *

Eva sat down in the room they had put her in as she concentrated on levitating a few building blocks, before making them snap in half as she saw Strucker enter.

"I have an assassination for you, Samuel Donnelly who is a weapons engineer and is poking around things that he shouldn't be concerning himself with. Find him and kill him." Strucker instructed harshly and Eva nodded.

She stood up and was handed a new suit, it was made of black leather and had pads on the elbows and knees. It was complete with a belt to hold her weapons.

"You will be known as Psyche from now on." Strucker told her before he left. She tried on the suit along with the boots that had been handed to her.

She smiled at how it looked before she took it off. She redressed again and put on a pair of tight black skinny jeans, a white silk shirt and a gold bracelet and a black leather jacket over top. She was escorted to a hanger where she was given a leather suitcase and a passport, she looked at it intently and bordered the private jet.

Valentina Marie Grey was her new alias for this mission.

Eva read up on her intended assassination target during the flight, there were surveillance photos that showed him frequenting a bar on Fifth Avenue.

All she had to do now was dress up nice and lure him into a false sense of security, before killing him, just like her Red Room days.

It would be easy.

It didn't take Eva long to scope out the bar. She had the entire place mapped in her mind within a few minutes. She knew where the cameras were and how to avoid them. Once she located her target she began delve into her tricks of the trade. She sauntered past him, _'accidently'_ banging into him slightly before apologizing sweetly and flashing a winning smile. She knew he would be instantly hooked and intrigued.

She made her way up to the bar and flagged down the bar tender. She ordered a drink and began the waiting game. It took less than a minute for Donnelly to wander over to her and strike up a conversation. To say he was a bit of a bore would be an understatement, but she played along and laughed at his pathetic attempt at jokes. She had him eating out of the palm of her hand in seconds.

"What do you say we get out of here?" She whispered seductively as she played with the collar of his button up shirt.

"You wanna...? O... okay" he stuttered nervously, obviously finding it hard to believe that a woman as beautiful as herself would want to go home with him so quickly.

He held out his arm for her which she took with a smile as the two of them headed for the exit. Too easy she thought to herself. He fell hook line and sinker for her little charm act.

Once outside she convinced him that she was staying at a hotel just down the road and it would be quicker to just walk there rather than take a cab halfway across town. The foolish man gladly agreed as he thought he was getting very lucky tonight. She lured him down a dark and deserted alleyway where she would carry out her plan.

They walked down the alley for a while, before Eva pulled out her gun and shot him once in the chest and then once in the head, quick and clean. She watched emotionlessly as the man collapsed and began bleeding out on the cold concrete.

She searched Donnelly's pockets finding a USB stick and placed it discreetly inside her purse before walking away, leaving the man's dead body behind her.

She then dialled Strucker's number and waited for him to answer the phone, informing him that the assassination had been successful and she had retrieved a USB drive.

"Very good. Come back to the base, I have another assignment for you, Psyche." Strucker told her and Eva hung up and flagged down a taxi to get back to the jet where she changed into her suit, before flying back to Germany.

* * *

Bucky had been punching the punch bag all morning, when he saw Steve come in looking anxious.

"Buck, we got something that might be related to Eva." He told him and he followed him into the briefing room and saw that the CNC News was on.

 _"Police have confirmed that US acclaimed Engineer Samuel Donnelly was assassinated last night in an alleyway after a leaving a bar with an unknown female." The news reporter said gravely. "There is no footage of the woman but the bartender described her as around 5'5-5'6 with light blonde hair. If the public has any information regarding this incident we urge you to contact the police immediately."  
_  
Bucky felt his stomach drop.

 _'Eva? No. It couldn't be.'_ Bucky thought to himself. Surely not.

"How do we even know that it was her? It could have been anybody." Bucky said optimistically.

"I've had Jarvis piecing together any news reports of high profile assassinations performed by someone highly trained." Tony began.

"That doesn't prove it was her." Bucky said angrily.

"No, you're right it doesn't." Tony said calmly. "But if you let me finish... once he finds something Jarvis backtracks the whereabouts of the victim and scouts any and all media usually facial recognition. Say if he appears in the background of some college girls Instagram photo." Tony said somewhat triumphantly as he brought a photo onto the screen of a couple college girls having a good night out drinking. There in the background was Donnelly at the bar, talking to... Eva.

"Shit!" Bucky exclaimed. "Do you know where she is now?"

"We tried to track her, but she is very good at hiding from any building or street cameras... we lost her." Tony replied.

"God damn it!" Bucky yelled in frustration. "I knew this would happen when I left her behind. This is all my fault. I should have just stayed there with her."

"Then you would either bed dead, or just like her, brainwashed into killing again." Steve told him.

"Maybe I'd rather be dead than feel this guilt!" Bucky screamed before storming out of the room.

"We gotta find her guys, he's getting worse. This guilt is tearing him apart, he is going to self-destruct." Steve told the rest of the team.

"We're on it." Tony replied as he began giving Jarvis orders on what to search for.

"Sir, I've found a hotel room which is at a hotel five miles from where Mr Donnelly was killed under the name Valentina Marie Grey." Jarvis informed him.

"Get her photo up, Jarvis." Tony instructed and a photo of a young blonde haired woman at the reception desk of the hotel appeared. She was wearing sunglasses and part of her hair was shielding her face. "Steve?" Tony asked quickly.

"I'll get Bucky." He replied easily.

Bucky entered the room and saw the photo on the screen. The young woman had familiar bangs, it definitely looked like her.

"That's Eva, do you know where she went?" Bucky asked quickly.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked patiently.

Another security camera picture popped up on the screen. "My facial recognition is an 86% match to Miss Nikolayev Sir." Jarvis told him.

"She boarded a flight at 9:30 this morning at JFK Airport, it was heading to...Germany, Munich." Tony said quickly as Natasha then phoned an old contact of hers, Madame B.

"What was the hotel that Eva was staying in, Tony?" Sharon asked quickly as she called a dispatch unit.

"Crowne Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue." Tony told her and Sharon relayed the information telling a unit to get there as they rushed off with Steve and Bucky.

"Sir, have you seen this young woman?" Bucky asked the man at the hotel reception as he held up a photo of Eva. The blonde haired young man looked at it intently for a moment and nodded.

"Yeah, she stayed here for a couple of nights. Is she ok?" The guy asked concerned.

Bucky pressed his lips together for a minute.

"That's what we're trying to find out, can we see the room?"

"Uh, yes. Housekeeping hasn't been through yet. Here's the key, room 108. First floor."

"Thank you for cooperating with us." Bucky said and the man nodded.

As they headed into the room they saw it was empty aside from a laptop, sitting in the corner.

"Seems a little sloppy for her to leave this behind. Do you think maybe she is trying to leave you a trail?" Steve asked Bucky.

"I hope so."

* * *

 _Let's hope Bucky finds Eva soon._


	4. Searching For A Lost Friend

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 4

* * *

They grabbed anything that would be useful and cleared out, Bucky felt like he had failed Eva, but hoped to god that he would find her soon as they left the hotel.

* * *

Eva held a file in her hands as she looked at her newest target. They told her that this woman had been digging into their business, and HYDRA didn't take too kindly to that. Her name was Natalia Alianovna Romanova, a.k.a Natasha Romanoff. Her code name was The Black Widow. Instantly that name sounded so familiar to Eva. So much so that she had a flash in her mind, of herself talking to a young man with dark hair. She said to him. _"_ _I was their top assassin after the famous Black Widow who had been a legend in the Red Room._ _"_ The memory, if that's what it was, burned through her mind with a searing pain. She tried to shake it off and continued to read the file. Romanova had been a pupil in the Red Room Training Program and now worked for S.H.E.I.L.D. 'Red Room'… that's what she had said to the dark haired man in her vision. Maybe she was seeing the future, because she had no idea who that man was. She couldn't recall ever seeing him before in her life.

Eva studied the file intently, the woman had quite a history and extensive training, and she would be a worthy opponent. She would have to focus on her telekinesis skills to be able to beat her, because it seemed they would be pretty evenly matched in hand to hand combat.

She got ready and dressed in training gear, before going out into the ballet studio as she began practising her dance moves that seemed to come so naturally but didn't know how.

She was determined not to disappoint her bosses.

Eva performed some complicated twists as dummies began to appear all over the room and she took them out with her powers, releasing blasts of energy from her hands as well as using the weapons that were scattered around the room.

* * *

The following day Eva touched down in New York. She had studied the file on Romanoff inside and out. She knew everything there was to know about this woman. She knew that she was associated with a group of people including Steve Rodgers, Clint Barton and Tony Stark. They were all part of a team of elite soldiers, spies and geniuses, some with superhuman attributes. They called themselves The Avengers. There were a lot of new articles about a huge alien battle in the middle of New York, centred on the then named Stark Tower. She found it had since been renamed to the Avengers Tower, and that was where she would find her target.

Eva knew that in targeting Natasha Romanoff, she was likely going to have to take down the rest of the team too, and she was prepared for that. She had been learning to control her powers more, and knew that they would be key in completely her mission to kill The Black Widow. She called for a cab and headed straight for the huge tower in the middle of the city.

The taxi parked outside the building and she got out. Standing on the pavement outside she surveyed the building. It was very tall with many floors. Finding Romanoff would not be easy without alerting someone to her presence, but Eva had another idea. She focused her powers on the building and began scanning mind from floor to floor until she located her target.

She was heading down in an elevator, it stopped in the garage where she hopped into a black Jaguar car. She was going for a drive and Eva got back into the cab and asked the driver to followed her calmly, but keep his distance. Barely making a sound she quickly changed into her suit, as she waited for the car to come to a stop.

Eva made sure that no civilians were around, not wanting to be seen as she calmly got out as Natasha parked in a deserted street and walked into an abandoned warehouse. She followed after the woman silently as she had her target right in front of her she unsheathed her Gerber Mark II Combat knife from her left upper holster and made a move to slit her throat.

However, Eva was taken by surprise when Natasha spun around and slammed her into a wooden beam. Clearly she had been spotted earlier somehow and she had baited her. As Natasha bent down to try and drag her to her feet Eva head-butted her hard, causing the red head woman to stumble back. Eva jumped to her feet and her eyes glowed dark red then as she stared intently at her target.

Natasha rubbed her forehead as she looked at the young blonde haired woman, her lower face was covered up by a mask that looked identical to the one that Bucky had worn, and her eyes were flashing red.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the one that's gonna take you down." Eva told her confidently as she threw a punch at her. Natasha blocked it and returned a couple of her own, managing to land one on her opponents ribcage. But the girl was quick and she flung herself at Natasha, spinning around her and throwing her to the ground. With all her training Nat was just as acrobatic as this woman and she rolled out of the landing to remain unhurt. This girl had some serious training.

Black Widow stood up and held her ground as the mystery woman came charging at her, she blocked her punch and followed up by sweeping her feet out from under her. The young woman fell to the ground and Natasha was quick to jump on top of her, pinning her down and landing a few punches. The woman's eyes began to flash red again and before she even knew what had happened Nat was catapulted into the air, hitting the ceiling and crashing back down to the ground.

"I told you I'd take you down, bitch." She spat as she neared her.

Nat crawled to her knees, she was in pain, and surely something was at least cracked if not broken. She had been through much worse in her Red Room days, this was nothing. She could handle one punk girl. "Oh honey, it's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down." Natasha told her with a cocky grin.

She kicked at one of the young girls legs, making her buckle to the ground a little before striking her hard in the face, knocking off her mask. As the girl looked up at her, Natasha recognized her instantly. She couldn't believe she didn't pick up on it earlier. She was highly trained, had some sort of telekinetic powers and she wore a mask just like the one Bucky used to wear. It was Evangeline Nikolayev.

"Eva?" Nat questioned.

"How do you know my name?" Eva responded in shock. "Who warned you I was coming!?"

"No... Eva. We tried to save you, back in Berlin with Bucky. Don't you remember?"

"I've never been to Berlin, and who the hell is Bucky?"

"Eva, I need you to trust me okay? They have wiped your memory. Bucky has been searching for you, we all have. He never gave up. Let me help you remember." Natasha said gently.

"I don't know what kind of mind games you're playing but I'm not falling for it!" Eva yelled as she tackled Natasha to the ground and began to punch her.

"I can prove it. Eva Stop!" Nat yelled in between blocking Eva's blows. But there was no stopping her, she was out of control. Nat had only one choice. She got one of her Black Widow's Bites and shocked her with it, knocking her unconscious. Pushing her off, she got up and dialled Steve's number. "Steve, I was ambushed. It's Eva. I need Bucky at my location right now" she spoke through the phone.

"We're coming to you now, Nat." Steve assured her and Natasha hung up. As she looked around at where Eva was lying she realised she was gone. She cursed then as she hurried outside.

A car sped up the road and came to stop a few meters away and she saw Steve, Tony, Clint and Bucky jump out. She raced over to them with a grimace of pain and when she reached them, Clint helped her to sit down.

"What the hell happened?" Clint asked alarmed at the state of her as he began to check her ribs and Natasha grimaced again. She told them how she had fought Eva in the warehouse just minutes ago, when they saw a police car approaching. As it started to slow down, it exploded.

* * *

A young woman calmly walked down the street, holding a rocket launcher in her hands. Natasha realised that it was Eva and she clearly had come prepared.

Steve threw his shield at her, but Eva grabbed it then and threw it right back at him, almost knocking him off his feet. She glared at him as a dark haired man began running towards her.

Bucky looked at Eva and felt a part of himself break, she didn't even remember him, her eyes were completely blank, cold and ruthless as she pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. There was no recognition in her eyes at all when she looked at him.

Bucky kicked it the gun of her hands, and Eva pulled out a Gerber II Hunting Knife and tried to stab him with it. They traded blow after blow as they fought in the streets. Eva was quick, and very strong, Bucky barely avoided getting stabbed in the throat.

"Eva, it's me!" Bucky said imploringly.

"I don't know who the hell you are!" Eva snarled enraged as she tried to stab him in the chest

"Eva, try to remember. This is not you. This is not who you are!" He pleaded as he grabbed her hand with his metal arm almost crushing it until he could pry the knife from her fingers. He tossed aside, not wanting to use it on her. He grabbed hold of her other hand and spun her around so her back was pressed against his chest and he held her arms crossed tightly in front of her, so she couldn't fight back.

In desperation she flung her head back, colliding with the side of Bucky's head as he tried to avoid the impact. He stumbled backwards releasing her from his grasp.

"I told you I don't know you, stop pretending like you know me!" She yelled angrily.

"I do know you. Your name is Evangeline Marina Nikolayev. You were trained by the Red Room. We were held captive together by Hydra a little over a month ago. It has taken me this long to find you." He told her as he cautiously approached.

"Liar!" She yelled as she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward.

"Does my face not look at all familiar to you? We spent so much time together Eva. I cared about you. I kissed you… remember. We were trying to escape, but you were trapped by debris."

An image flashed through her mind for a millisecond. She was sat on a bed in a cell with a dark haired man. The same man who stood before her now. She shook her head in frustration and pain. These visions she had in her head, they burnt. "No! You're trying to trick me."

But Bucky refused to just give up on her. He started to walk towards her again. "They gave you telepathic abilities, you could communicate with me inside my head. You could read my mind. If you look inside my mind now you will see the truth. Please Eva just try." He begged imploringly.

* * *

This man was so insistent that she knew him, she thought she may as well do it, even if it was just to prove him wrong. To show him that he had her confused with someone else. And then she would be close enough to kill him in a second. She focused all her attention on him, getting inside his head. She tuned out all the other noise around her and his mind began to open up to her. It was like a collection of clips at a movie theatre, each featuring the two of them together. They fought together, they trained together. They shared a bed in a cell together.

"No... No this can't be!" Eva cried out as a million emotions began to flood into her mind. Emotions definitely weren't something she was used to.

"Eva, it's ok. Do you believe me now?"

"We were held captive together. I know you, but I… I don't remember you." She confirmed. "I could see it. What happened to us, but why can't I remember it?"

"Look again. Look deeper. It might help." He said as he approached her. He took a huge chance and held out his hands for her to take in hers. Hoping that the physical contact might bring back some more memories for her.

Once again she focused on him, searching his memories for more clues, and as she saw them, so did Bucky. They were being escorted back to their cell when they attacked the guards and made a run for it. In a stair well they ran into some other people. The red haired woman she fought just before, and the two other men that were standing on the street with them just now. There was an explosion, she was trapped. He tried to help her, the dark haired man and his friend, but it was no use. She told him to go. She told him to leave her behind. He kissed her and made her a promise. He promised he would come back for her.

"Bucky?" She questioned, a tear forming in her eye as she remembered his name.

"I swore to you, that wherever they took you that I would find you, and I would save you. I never stopped looking Eva. Never" he whispered before pressing his lips to hers in a desperate attempt cement any memories in her mind about the two of them. Eva melted into the kiss and blinked back tears, she began to remember him. He had tried to save her.

Just then, a shot rang out from a rooftop across the street and Eva stopped the bullet with her telekinesis powers, glaring at the shooter she spun it around and sent it shooting back at him.

As memories began to flood her mind Eva whispered. "What have I done?" She vaguely remembered the people that HYDRA had sent her to kill, she felt horrified and ashamed of herself for what she had done to everyone, especially Bucky and his friends.

"Eva, listen to me. This isn't your fault, you were brainwashed into doing this and it's not your fault in any way, don't blame yourself." Bucky whispered quietly as he cupped her face with his metal hand, she didn't flinch away.

"I hurt you and your friends." She said disgusted at herself.

"It wasn't your choice, don't do this to yourself." Bucky said firmly, his grey eyes meeting her dark blue eyes.

"You came back for me?"

"I tried to yeah. We found out where you were being held, but by the time we got there everyone had cleared out and you were gone." He told her. "I was so mad at myself for leaving you behind, I hated myself. And I knew that I would never be right again until I found you."

"Don't hate yourself Bucky. I told you to leave me... didn't I?" She asked, vaguely remembering that moment.

"You did, but I should never have listened. What they did to you after that... it's all my fault." He whispered pained.

"No. No this is Hydra's fault. I still don't remember much, everything is really fuzzy. But from what I do remember, we were both made to do things we didn't want to do by these people. They are the ones to blame, not you, and not me." She said firmly.

"I never gave up looking for you. I was determined to fix my mistake. I had to save you."

"And you have. Here I am... safe. Because of you. You helped me remember. Even if it's only bits and pieces right now. At least I know who I am, and I remember you, maybe only vaguely, but I hope it will come back with time."

"Guys! We got company!" Clint yelled as he spotted a few choppers in the distance. "HYDRA's coming, and I'm betting they're pretty pissed."

"Looks like we are in for a fight." Steve added in. "Everybody up for this?"

"Let's do it." Eva replied as she grabbed a hold of Bucky's hand. They were in this together.

Bucky held her hand tightly and squeezed it before he let go as they began fighting the soldiers from HYDRA. Eva using her new found powers as she felt her eyes turn dark red and her hands glowed the same colour, she caused a few of the soldiers guns to rust and rot away, before kicking one in the face.

Bucky stood beside her, covering her back as he used his cybernetic arm to knock a few men out while using his gun on a few more. Steve, Tony, Natasha and Clint fighting alongside them.

Eva then glanced at a soldier and used her powers on him, making him turn on another HYDRA man before beating him up and they all watched in surprise.

"Remind me not to piss this Russian off." Tony commented seriously as he used his repulsors on a HYDRA helicopter as the others took out the last of the men.

Eva shook her head as her eyes changed back to the normal deep blue, Bucky smiled at her as they began checking the knocked soldiers, that's when he saw a memory stick in one of the soldier's pockets and took it out.

"What's that?" Eva asked curiously, walking to his side quietly and Bucky showed her the USB stick.

"Must be important." Steve said quietly.

She gave the USB to Steve for safe keeping until they could review the information back at their HQ. The team did one last sweep of the area to make sure that all of the Hydra agents were either dead or incapacitated before leaving Tony behind to oversee them being handed over to SHIELD.

As they made their way back to the tower Bucky turned to Eva, "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Okay I guess. I have a killer headache though."

"Do you get them often?"

"Only when I don't take my pills... oh crap my pills" she remembered as she fumbled around in a small pouch on her utility belt.

"Eva wait... don't take it." Bucky warned quickly before she went to pop one into her mouth.

"They told me if I don't take one every twelve hours, my brain and organs will start to shut down and I will die." she told him.

"They are probably what has been causing your memory loss." Steve added from the front seat.

"What do I do?" She asked Bucky.

"How long since you last took one?"

"Thirteen hours." She said a little worried.

"Damn. How long have you gone without one before. I want to get Tony to analyse them and run some tests on you to see if what they told you is true. I don't want you to lose your memory again." Bucky said wearily.

"The longest I have gone is fourteen hours without taking a pill."

"Steve, step on it, we need to get back ASAP, and can you call Tony and tell him to meet us in his lab?"

"Will do Buck!" Steve replied quickly.

* * *

They arrived back and they met him at his lab, Bucky handed him the pills that Eva had given him and Tony ran some tests on them as well as a sample of Eva's blood.

"These aren't painkillers and they definitely don't have anything that are keeping you from dying, they're some kind of pill that makes you forget your memories. Guess HYDRA wanted to keep you really badly and started feeding you these. Your bloodwork shows that you are fine. The headaches are likely withdrawals from the drug." Tony said before getting surprised as Jarvis's voice came on the speakers.

"Sir, Director Nick Fury is waiting for you in the living room." Jarvis informed them and Tony nodded as he saw a look of weariness cross Eva's face.

"Don't worry, he's a good guy. Your boyfriend was sent to kill him but Fury doesn't hate him." Tony said cheerfully as they went to greet the man who was waiting for them.

Eva could tell that, this man was dangerous and sat down next to Bucky who was tense as he regarded his assassination target while he had been under HYDRA's control.

"Miss Nikolayev, I've heard a lot about you and you too Mr Barnes." Fury stated calmly as they saw he was holding two files with their names on them in bold print.

"All good I hope?" Bucky said sarcastically, seeing Eva take his metal hand in hers, the fact she wasn't afraid of his metal hand made him happier than he should be.

"Trust me, I'm impressed by you both." Fury stated stoically.

* * *

 _Enjoy :)_


	5. The Plan

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 5

* * *

The following day when things had calmed down, everyone had been patched up and well rested from their fight with Hydra, Eva went looking for Natasha, to apologise for what she had done. She found her resting on a sofa in one of the many rooms of The Avengers Tower. She approached cautiously and sat down in the arm chair across from her as Natasha eyed her curiously.

"Hi Natasha, I just wanted to clear the air between us." She said as she looked intensely at her. "I'm sorry for what I did. Attacking you like that, I didn't know what I was doing and I never wanted to hurt you. Or anyone else."

"I understand. Honestly Eva don't worry about it too much. You weren't yourself. I'm a big girl I can take care of myself." She said as she laughed it off. Natasha wasn't really used to opening up to people. The only person she ever really did that with was Clint. So she used her humour to make light of serious situations.

"Still, I feel bad about it." Eva told her.

"It's ok. We've all done things we regret. I must admit, you have some real skills girl."

"You are pretty awesome yourself. Back in the red room, we all looked up to you. All the girls wanted to be just like you." Eva said a little nostalgically.

"I'm not sure whether to be flattered about that or not. My Red Room days... they were some of the darkest days of my life." Natasha admitted darkly.

"Mine too." Eva agreed.

"Ever since I got out, all I've wanted to do was take those bastards down. Clint and I... we tried once. But the deeper we got into it the more we realized we couldn't do it alone."

"Maybe now we can? I want to help. I want the Red Room to pay for what they have done. To me, to you... to all those other girls."

"Are you sure you want to do this? It will be one hell of a fight." Natasha said.

"If we can get the rest of the team with us, I think it's a fight that we can win." Eva said optimistically as she gave Nat a smile.

"You're one tough young woman, I can see why Bucky found a kindred spirit in you." Natasha told her softly as they both sat in a peaceful silence.

"How old were you, when you broke away from the Red Room?" Eva asked curiously, it had always made Eva wonder how Natasha was able to live without the Red Room coming after her.

"I was twenty four years old, I got on S.H.E.I.L.D.'s radar in a bad way and they sent Clint to kill me...he made a different call, he gave me a chance to redeem myself." Natasha explained quietly. Everything changed for me that day, but I was never truly free of the Red Room. They constantly came after me, but together Clint and I would take them out. He saved my life, in more ways than one.

Eva listened quietly.

"When I was sixteen years old, I was best friends with a young girl called Malia, we would share our bread together. One day, we got chosen to fight two graduated members of the Red Room program, I got picked to fight a young woman called Katrina and Malia got chosen to fight Yelena Belkova, she was very well known among us younger girls. I beat Katrina and Malia was winning against Yelena, when the bitch cheated and killed her by slitting her throat. We all knew that was one of the rules, you weren't allowed to do that. But because she was their golden girl she got away with it." She said angrily. "I promised myself that I'd kill Yelena, for Malia, and I've been looking for her ever since. Damn bitch is a ghost." Eva said darkly as she remembered her time in the Red Room. "It's strange, I can remember that far back as clear as day now, but the recent stuff is still such a blur."

Natasha nodded in recognition of what Eva had told her. Unable to find any comforting words to offer her.

"What did they do to my legs?" She asked quietly.

"Back when we tracked HYDRA to their base in Freiberg, looking for you, we arrived there to find that everyone had cleared out. It would have only been a day or two beforehand. When we searched around Tony came across some x-rays that looked kind of strange. Then one of the guys found a USB drive. It had footage of the doctors operating on you. When the base in Berlin collapsed your legs were crushed... do you remember that?" Natasha asked gently.

"Only vaguely. It's still just bits and pieces." Eva told her.

"Well Tony said that it looked as though they had replaced the bone in your legs with Vibranium. The same stuff that Cap's shield is made out of. So your legs are basically indestructible now."

"Wow... that's weird, but kinda good I guess."

"There's got to be some perks when you're a lab experiment right?" Natasha joked, earning a small chuckle for Eva.

"So, are we really doing this? Taking down the Red Room I mean?" Eva asked.

"If you're up for it, I'm definitely in. I'll talk to Clint, but I'm pretty sure he will be in too."

"Great. I'll go talk to Bucky about it. Thanks Nat... I'm glad you and I are all good after... you know everything."

"Don't sweat it, we're cool." Nat said with a kind smile.

Eva smiled back at her and watched as Natasha left to go and talk to Clint, she then went in search of Bucky.

* * *

Bucky was doing some push ups while his mind drifted to Eva, she had been talking to Natasha and he had a feeling, he knew what it was about too. The Red Room. He was kind of glad that they had that in common. At least she could talk to someone about it who would understand

He knew the damage it had done to Eva and Natasha mentally and psychically, both of them had been psychologically scarred from that ordeal. He wanted to help her. Just then he saw Eva enter and get on the treadmill.

It was then, he noticed a faded scar on her right arm. It looked like a stab wound, he was guessing she had gotten it during her days working for the Russian Government.

"I wanted to talk to you." Eva said quietly as she looked at him, getting off the treadmill then.

"About what?" He asked curiously as she walked towards him.

"The Red Room."

"I thought it might be that." He stated plainly. "Is that what you and Natasha were talking about before?" He asked catching her off guard and she looked at him a little shocked. "I had walked past on my way to the gym, I wasn't listening in or anything." He assured her.

"We talked about that, among other things."

"Oh yeah?"

"I apologized, for attacking her. I felt real bad about it, but she understands that I wasn't in control of myself. She was really good about it. I like her" Eva smiled. Feeling like for the first time in a long time she might have made a friend. Other than Bucky of course.

"So what about the Red Room?" He questioned.

"Nat and I... we want to take them down. We don't want them to keep doing to other young girls what they did to us. It's time someone stopped them." She told him.

"And you think that someone should be you?"

"I think we are the best ones to do it, the only ones. We both have inside information, we know what it's like there. We know how they are all trained. And now that I have these powers, we will be stronger than they are."

"Then I'm with you."

"You are?"

"100%."

"Thank you Bucky."

"Anything for you." He smiled.

* * *

Natasha found Clint in his favourite perch, sitting on a ledge above the door on the balcony, overlooking the city.

"Hey Clint." She said as she sat down on the bench below and looked up at him.

"Hey." He replied as he leapt down and took a seat next to her. "You okay?" He asked, observing her somewhat uneasy demeanour.

"Yeah, I just... I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"Eva and I, we just had a talk... about the Red Room. We want to take them down."

"Nat, you're sure about this? You remember last time right?" he reminded her.

"I do. But that was just you and I. This time it's different. We have Eva on our side, and you've seen what she can do. She will probably have Bucky too and maybe we can convince Steve, Sharon and Tony to help out too. I think this time, we can put an end to them and all the pain they cause. I can't go on knowing that the things they did to me, they are doing to more young girls every day. I can't live with that knowing that I could have tried harder to stop them" she told him, a stray tear slipping down her cheek that she had tried so hard to hold back. "I know you don't owe me anything, in fact I owe you my life, but please Clint, will you help me?"

"Where you go, I go." He smiled.

"Thank you." She whispered as she pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for everything. I don't know where I would be without you."

"My pleasure." He replied wiping away her tears before she got up to leave.

Taking a chance Clint stood up and grabbed a hold of her hand. "Tasha wait..."

"Yeah?" She asked as she turned back to him.

"If we are going to do this. If we are going to enter the fight of our lives, which could possibly get us killed. There's something you need to know." He told her as he stared into her eyes.

"What is it Clint?"

He didn't answer her with words, instead crushed his lips against hers in a passionate and desperate kiss, pouring all his emotions and feelings into it. He pulled away and smiled at her, chuckling a little at the shock on her face. "I love you Nat. I always have. I just needed you to know that, in case we don't make it out of this one. God knows Loki and New York was bad enough. I never thought I would see you again. I never thought I would get the chance to tell you."

She looked into his gorgeous blue eyes and all she could see was truth. He meant every word he said, and she found herself feeling something she wasn't sure she had ever felt in her life. Complete. She had always had feelings for him, but had kept them buried deep inside. She wasn't even sure that she knew how to love, after being turned into a cold blooded killer by the Red Room. But the more time she spent with Clint, the more she became the person she wanted to be.

"You wanna maybe run that by me one more time." She smiled.

"Absolutely." He laughed as he pulled her close and kissed her again, slowly this time as they both savoured the moment.

Natasha laughed happily and leaned into him, her green eyes sparkling and he smirked at her.

"Then let's go kick some ass, Nat." Clint declared and she smiled as they went to tell the others the plan of taking down the Red Room.

To everyone's surprise, Steve and Sharon wanted to help along with Tony who had agreed instantly and was now locating the Red Room Academy with intel from Natasha and Eva.

Eva had lost her best friend there, Natasha felt sympathetic as she thought of the few friends she had made during her find there and how they had died in the training programs too. Weakness wasn't tolerated by the Red Room, and she knew who Yelena Belkova was. The woman was a master spy and dangerous, and it's no wonder Eva wanted her dead. They were going to make the Red Room pay for what they had done to them.

* * *

Eva looked at the suit that Tony had made for her in astonishment and gratitude, it was made from black leather and it had purple piping on it that glowed and holsters, very similar to one she received during her training with HYDRA, but this one was much better.

"Thank you, Tony."

"No problem." He replied happily. He was definitely starting to come round to the idea of his new team mates.

* * *

Clint landed the Quinjet just outside of Volgograd, Russia. The team went over there plan one last time while reviewing the blue prints of The Red Room facility that Natasha had managed to get her hands on with some help hacking computers from Tony. Everyone knew where they needed to be, and everyone was partnered up so there was always someone to watch their back. All except for Tony, but he wasn't really alone, he had Jarvis with him as his wingman. They also had a small team of SHIELD agents assigned to wait outside of the building to help round up any young girls who wished to surrender and be free from the Red Room.

The building was multi story, Bucky and Eva started at the bottom, going through the front entrance, while Steve and Sharon took the back entrance. Clint used a projectile grappling hook with his bow and propelled himself and Natasha to the roof, where the two of them entered through the stairwell, along with Tony who had flown up. He branched off and took and elevator down a few floors to start clearing out the middle part of the building.

As Bucky and Eva made their way through they came to the front desk which was set up as a business with a red Room agent posing as a receptionist. She recognized Eva immediately and stood up drawing her weapon. However she was far too slow and Eva used her powers to throw her against the wall knocking her out. Two SHIELD agents came in behind them and secured the entrance making sure no one else could come and go. They continued down a hallway where they were confronted with two more agents with guns drawn who had heard the commotion. Bucky took out his pistol shooting one, while Eva shot the other with her Colt Python.

* * *

Meanwhile Steve and Sharon began clearing the back rooms. As they entered a training room they found half a dozen girls that appeared to be between the ages of thirteen and sixteen.

"We are agents of SHIELD from America." Steve told them. "We are here to shut this place down. We can take you to a safe place, however if you are hostile, we will take you out." He said as Sharon began to translate in Russian just in case any of them didn't speak English. Two of the younger looking girls raised their hands to surrender, while the rest of them drew their knives that they had been training with.

Steve cringed at the idea of hitting young girls so instead he pulled out a gun that Tony had given him and shot two of them down with tranquiliser darts, while Sharon fought the other two in hand to hand combat. She threw one to the ground and as the other ran at her, she blocked her attack and gave her one swift smack to the face knocking her unconscious. As the other started to get back up, she grabbed the tranq gun that Tony had given her and shot her too. "If you want to get out of here, take the back door. We have friends out there who will help you. They will take you to a safe place where you never have to do any of this again." Sharon told the two remaining girls, and without a second thought they ran to the exits towards the awaiting agents.

* * *

Clint and Natasha descended the stairs to the top story and began making their way through. They came across what appeared to be a large office adorned with Relics of various origins. A large desk sat at one end of the room with a couple of chairs sitting in front of it. Behind the desk was a painted portrait of a man holding two samurai swords. "This is the office of Professor Grigor Chelintsov, he is the one who designed the Black Widow program. He runs this place." Natasha told Clint.

Before she could say anymore a slow clap came from behind them and they spun around to see Grigor himself. "I'm impressed Miss Romanova. I wondered how long it would take you to come back here. I take it you have come to kill me?" He asked. "You have hurt far too many people Chelintsov, its high time you paid for your sins." Natasha said as she tossed on of her Widow's Bites at him, shocking him until he was unconscious before placing handcuffs on him and dragging him to the elevator. Shit hit the button for the first floor and sent him to the agents who had the first floor secured while she and Clint continued to clear the top level.

* * *

The whole team converged on the tenth floor and entered a strange looking room. "This must be the laboratory where they did experiments." Steve said as they all cautiously entered and saw three female scientists pulling their guns out, but Eva and Natasha took them out before they could get any shots off

Once that was done, they all started looking through the paperwork while Tony was searching through the files, when Clint found DVD's on every girl that had graduated the Red Room, including Natasha and Eva. These people were very thorough, but obviously weren't too concerned with having a paper trail, or digital trail for that matter.

Bucky found a laptop and clicked the mouse, Eva was looking through some documents when he found a file on a project called PROJECT PSYCHE.

 _'Appropriate Students For The Program.'_

 _'Malia Alikaev: Deceased.'_

 _'Olga Golovanov: Deceased.'_

 _'Natasha Romanoff: Alive.'_

 _'Eva Nikolayev: Alive - Successful experiment._

"What the hell is project Psyche? And why is my name on here, and yours too Natasha?" Eva asked alarmed as they heard someone behind them.

"I can help answer that, Evangeline and Natasha." A smooth female voice said and they looked up to see their old mentor who had guided them during their education in the Red Room.

Madame B.

* * *

 _So the big reveal._


	6. The Old Mentor

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

 **Thank you to everyone who is reviewing, reading and following the story along with adding to favourites.**

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 6

* * *

"Madame B? I... I don't understand. What's going on?" Natasha asked shocked. "I thought you had gotten out... you... you were helping me with intel." Natasha said hurt. She was stunned, left feeling hurt and betrayed. She should have known better than to trust someone from her old life, someone from the Red Room. With the exception of Eva, she was just like herself. She knew that she could be trusted.

"Oh my dear, you thought exactly what I wanted you to think. How do you think the Red Room has been finding you all these years hmm?"

"You evil bitch!" Natasha yelled, pulling one of her pistols from its holster and pointing it at Madame B. "You will pay, just like the rest of them."

"Uh, uh, uh... I wouldn't do that if I were you Miss Romanova." She said with a sick smile.

"What blow your brains I... I think I just might." she said as she cocked back her pistol.

"If you do, you and all your friends are dead." She stated as she clicked her fingers and through false walls and out of the shadows came a horde of Red Room agents armed with knives, swords and pistols, led by the one and only Ivan Petrovitch, Natasha's old handler. He was a brutal man who took no prisoners and accepted no weakness or failure. Many times he had beaten Natasha, until she learned to hide any fear or weakness she felt. Until she learned to do as she was told without questions and face her demons later on when she was alone and could not be reprimanded.

"Ahhh Natalia Alianovna Romanova... you have returned to us." He grinned.

"Correction, I've returned to kill you, you cold hearted bastard!" Natasha spat as she fired her pistol at a couple of the agents that were also wielding guns, the others followed suit, taking out those with guns first. Things quickly escalated and it turned into a full on hand to hand combat brawl. While Natasha went after Petrovitch, Eva went for Madame B.

The two women fought in hand to hand combat, Eva didn't use her powers as she was afraid that one of her hex bolts would end up hitting Natasha instead of Madame B.

Eva kicked Madame B and knocked her onto the ground as the older woman grabbed her and tried to strangle her, Eva punched her in the face and jumped up to her feet then.

"This is for Malia!" Eva screamed enraged and pinned Madame B to the wall then as Natasha gained the upper hand against Ivan, Eva was feeling angry and it showed in her powers.

"This is for Natasha!" She growled enraged and punched the woman who had ruined her and Natasha, she had destroyed countless young girls all because they were orphans.

Not anymore.

"And this is for me, bitch!" She hissed as her blue eyes turned red and she punched Madame B in the face, knocking her over and ultimately winning.

She heard a shout and looked over to see Natasha had broken Ivan's arm as she proceeded to kick him in the face.

Ivan crumpled into a heap.

Eva took a deep breath and grabbed the files on the project Psyche as Natasha stalked to where Madame B was.

"I trusted you! Even though you sterilised me like some animal!" Natasha said enraged but hurt.

Madame B stirred slightly and looked at her.

"I didn't sterilise you, you were put in the project Psyche program as was Eva due to the two of you having become the top of your classes." Madame B said calmly as the others entered.

"But you escaped before we could begin the project. That's when we began to focus our time on Eva."

"What do you mean you didn't sterilise me? I remember being operated on, you told me that's what had happened!" Natasha shouted. "The red room has been working with HYDRA this whole time?"

"Yes dear. Hydra had the scientists and doctors, and we had the perfect subjects. It was a win-win partnership." she smiled. "What we did to you was give you no more than your average long term birth control."

"And made me believe it was permanent! Why the hell would you do something like that!?" Natasha yelled, her head was spinning with all this new information and she didn't know what to think anymore. Almost her whole life she had been a part of HYDRA without even knowing it. It made her feel sick.

"It's just what we do Natalia. Something to help make you compliant." Madame B told her.

"Don't call me that, that's not my name... not anymore."

"If you have been working with HYDRA this whole time, then why did you send me to kill their top scientist?" Eva asked angrily as she approached Madame B.

"It was all a ruse my dear. Your target wasn't a scientist at all. Just a Hydra agent willing to die for our cause. We couldn't simply have people know that we just handed you over to them, so we had to make it look like a mission gone wrong."

"You people are sick!" Eva screamed as she punched Madame B as hard as she could, knocking her out.

"Thanks." Natasha told her. "I was getting sick of hearing that bitch's voice."

Clint fired off a couple of arrows, taking out two of the agents before another three descended upon him. He fought them off, striking them with his bow, before pulling out his knife to fend off a couple more.

Steve used his shield to deflect a bullet one of the agents fired at him, before Sharon shot her. Two more came at cap, wielding swords. He blocked their attack with his shield while Sharon grabbed one, he grabbed the other. Each wrestling the swords from their opponents before knocking them out.

Bucky had Eva's back. While she fought with Madame B, he took out any agents that tried to attack her from behind. Using his metal arm to overpower them and remove their weapons so that he could knock them unconscious.

Tony concentrated on the false walls where some of the agents had emerged from. He used his pulsors to blow a hole in them, making sure no one else could sneak in behind the rest of the team. He then helped Bucky fend off some more towards Natasha and Eva.

"Alright, tie everybody up." Steve ordered the shield agents. "Have them all transported back to SHIELD for processing and questioning.

"We did it Eva. We took them down." Nat said as she gave her a pat on the back. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Thank you Natasha." She said as she pulled the red head into a hug, catching her off guard slightly, but she gladly accepted. Finally they were free of the Red Room. But still one thing remained... HYDRA.

Now that was going to be a problem, HYDRA was bigger and more dangerous in some places as she caught sight of Bucky and smiled at him as he came over to her.

"If we're taking down HYDRA, we need to be more careful seeing as they have a lot of guns and other weapons on their hands. Not to mention what they stole from S.H.I.E.L.D." Bucky said seriously as they watched the agents escort out the prisoners out to a quinjet.

"Then we better tell Fury and let him know what's going on." Steve stated calmly and they all headed towards the exit with Tony holding boxes that were filled with paperwork and files.

Eva was feeling angry and confused, she'd been working all along for HYDRA, even as a spy for the Red Room.

She felt confused as to who she really was but put it at the back of her mind as they boarded a quinjet and began flying back to the Avenger Tower.

* * *

By the time that they had arrived, Fury was waiting for them along with Maria and Pepper as Steve brought them up to speed abd the three of them looked disgusted.

"I knew HYDRA was sick but willingly torturing orphaned girls into becoming emotionless, ruthless assassins is something that I didn't know about." Fury said gravely as Maria turned to them.

"We've located five HYDRA groups in different countries, Germany, Belgium and one in Washington." Maria informed them as she showed another photo of a blonde haired young woman.

"And they've all been seen with this woman, Yelena Belkov."

"Yelena... that sneaky little bitch." Eva growled. "I wondered where she was when we didn't find her at The Red Room facility."

"Ok, so we make a plan to hit each HYDRA base until there is nothing left of them. We get rid of Hydra once and for all." Steve announced.

"It's been a long time coming." Bucky added remembering back to the 1940's when he and Steve fought against HYDRA while in the army.

"Everybody get some rest, you deserve it, and we have all had a hard day. We will begin planning first thing tomorrow." Steve told the team and they all dispersed, as he went to escort Director Fury and Maria out to their quinjet.

* * *

Later that night Clint went in search of Natasha, he hadn't seen her for the past few hours and he was worried about her. It had been an emotional day for her, learning the she had been under the rule of Hydra for most of her life. And that the people she had once trusted were really just sick and twisted bastards. He stood outside her room and knocked on the door.

"Tasha?" He called out, but there was no reply. So he entered anyway. He heard her shower running and saw that the bathroom door was closed. He went and knocked on the bathroom door. "Tasha? It's me. Are you okay in there?" He asked, but still he got no reply. "Nat?" He tried again. "Talk to me... I need to know that you're okay." And still he got nothing. "Alright, if you don't answer me... I'm coming in... You've been warned." Still no reply, now he was really worried.

He opened the door a crack, "If you're naked, cover up... I'm coming in!" He said as he entered the steamy bathroom and closed the door behind him. "Tasha?" He questioned as he neared the shower where the water was still running. He was met with the soft sound of her crying. "Don't kill me." He said as he rounded the corner, holding his hands up in surrender. There he was met with a view that almost broke his heart in two. Curled up on the shower floor with her arms hugging her knees tightly to her chest sat Natasha. She was in her underwear and a tank top as the hot water sprayed her.

"Shit Tasha." Clint sighed, saddened by how defeated she looked. Without a second thought he climbed into the shower with her and sat down under the hot water, pulling her into his strong arms. He just held her tight as she sobbed into his chest, his tank top and jeans becoming saturated by the shower. "It's ok, I'm here." he whispered. "Just let it all out. I got you..."

* * *

Meanwhile Bucky found Eva out on the balcony overlooking the city. He couldn't help the think about how beautiful she looked in the moonlight.

She looked like she was thinking about something as she absently played around with her necklace, she sensed him then and gave him a light smile.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked quietly and Bucky nodded as he looked at her then quietly, she seemed happier, calmer since they had taken down the Red Room.

"I'm fine, what about you?" Bucky asked intently as he regarded the younger woman who smiled.

"I'm happy that we took down the Red Room, but I'm upset that I was basically working for HYDRA all along for these years. I feel used and betrayed." Eva said bitterly as Bucky stood beside her.

He took her hand and held it tightly, she held it back not caring that his hand was made out of metal and gently touched his cheek then tenderly.

"You aren't afraid of me?" Bucky asked wearily, watching how Eva stroked his metal hand tenderly and wasn't flinching away.

"No, why should I be James?" Eva asked softly, during their time being held captive by HYDRA, Bucky had told her that she could call him by his birth name James or Jamie.

"Because of what I am." Bucky said bitterly and Eva cupped his face then tenderly in her hands.

"I'm the same as well James, but I'm not scared of you." She said firmly as her eyes met his dark grey eyes.

He saw how completely at ease she was with him.

It had been a long time since Bucky had felt like a normal person again. Every time he was with Eva, he felt relaxed. She brought out the best in him, and helped him to see that he wasn't a bad person. He was a good man, who had done some bad things. And he had done them under the control of someone else. He loved that way that she said his name, with her slight Russian accent. She had said it accidently one time and ever since he had adored it coming from her. That was part of the reason why he told her that he wouldn't mind her using his first name instead of his nickname, like everyone else did. Only few people ever called him James.

"Do you believe in fate Eva?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know. It's hard for me to believe in something like that with all the bad things that have happened to me."

"I know what you mean. I never used to... until I met you. I couldn't help but think that you and I met for a reason. That maybe I was meant to save you. Because you definitely saved me. I was on the verge of giving up on everything. HYDRA had taken everything from me and made me into this monster that I no longer recognized. I hated myself. And then I met you, and you gave me something to live for. If it wasn't for you, I never would have made it out of there." He told her truthfully.

"I couldn't have done it without you either James." She whispered, thinking back on all that they went through together.

They become very close and she couldn't help but think about the intimate moments that they shared, like kissing each other and she held his hand tightly.

Bucky held it back tightly and noticed how Eva didn't flinch away when he touched her with his metal hand or his metal fingers, she simply smiled and laced her fingers with his metal ones.

He smiled and it held it tightly as he cupped her face, gently in his human hand and kissed her ever so gently on the mouth, not wanting to frighten her or anything.

Eva wraps her arms around him and kisses him back, not afraid of him in the least bit and he growls in her mouth then as she leans more into him.

"Eva." Bucky growled as he held her tightly in his arms and she leaned into him, loving the feel of his arms wrapped around her smaller body.

"James." Eva whispered softly, cupping his face tenderly.

She looked at him intensely. The feelings she had for him were so strong that she struggled to control them. All she wanted was more of him. The taste of his lips alone was not enough. She wanted to feel his skin against hers. She wanted to be held in his strong embrace. Being bold she grabbed a hold of his cybernetic hand and led him back to the room she was staying in. Gently she closed the door behind him and gave him a questioning look, as she spoke to him telepathically. _'Do you want this?'_ She asked him.

"More than anything." He whispered aloud. "But only if it's what you want."

"This is definitely what I want." She smiled as she began lifting his tight black t-shirt above his head, tossing it aside. She took the time to admire his body. He was muscular and toned, and she thought he look very sexy, metal limb and all. Slowly she traced her fingers along his chest, caressing his muscles and enjoying the way they twitched slightly beneath her touch. When she had mapped out his entire torso, she pulled him close for a kiss. A gentle but passionate kiss that was so intense it left her wanting him even more.

Bucky reached down to the hem of her tank top, slowly sliding it up, caressing her body as he went before lifting it over her head and tossing it on the floor with his discarded shirt. To say she was beautiful would be an understatement, and gorgeous wouldn't even come close. There were just no words on earth to describe how truly amazing she was. He found his resolve wearing thin, and all he wanted to do was throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to bed. But he knew that he wanted to give her what she deserved. He wanted to show her just how much he loved her and what she really meant to him.

* * *

Natasha clung to Clint as the hot water washed over her. She felt a little better somehow, it was as though the water was washing away some of the pain and anger she felt. And Clint's warm embrace was slowly melting away the rest.

"You ok?" He whispered softly.

"I will be." She replied as she wiped her eyes.

"C'mon let's get you out of here and dried." He said as he stood up and helped her to her feet, shutting off the shower. He led her out and wrapped a towel around her, rubbing it over her body to dry her off.

"I feel so numb Clint." She whispered.

"I know Tasha. I promise you, it will get better. And I'm here for you no matter what. Whatever you need, I'm here." He reassured her. "You should probably take these wet clothes off, I'll go get you some dry ones."

"I can't."

"What do you mean?"

"I must have hurt my shoulder in the fight, I couldn't get my tank top off, that's when I broke down... everything just all of a sudden became too much." She said softly.

"Come here." He beckoned, and she looked at him with a mixture of confusion and shock. "I'll help you, I promise I won't look. Just let me help ok."

"Ok." she said as she walked over to him, placing the towel on the vanity beside her, she turned around with her back facing Clint. Carefully he slid the tank top up her body and removed it, tossing it in the laundry hamper in the corner. He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her body so she could cover herself up. Slowly he reached down, hooking his fingers in the waistband of her underwear he slid them down her legs and she stepped out of them. He threw them in the hamper to and began to rub the towel against her body to dry her off before leading her back into her room in search of some fresh clothes.

Eva led Bucky over to her bed where she sat him down before climbing onto his lap to kiss him passionately.

* * *

Bucky cupped her face in his hands, his metal hand cold against her soft, warm skin as he kissed her against him and slid his metal hand under her black bra.

He growled and began pulling it up, wanting to see every inch of the beautiful young woman who meant so much to him and growled low in his throat.

Bucky began biting and sucking on the soft skin on her chest, growling low and gripping her hips tightly in his hands as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He nuzzled her neck tenderly, feeling her fingers unbutton the zipper of his jeans and held onto her tightly.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" Bucky asked worriedly, Eva laughed softly and rested her forehead against his tenderly.

"You could never hurt me, James." Eva promised as she felt him pull off her jeans, leaving her now in her black panties and matching bra as Bucky looked at her longingly.

She cupped his cheek tenderly.

"I trust you."

* * *

 _Some sweet fluff between Clint and Natasha, not to mention Bucky and Eva. And thank you to everyone who reviewed :)_


	7. The Mission

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, we hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 7

* * *

The following day as the team were having breakfast, Steve wandered in with one of Tony's tablets. He was slowly getting used to all the new technology, but sometimes still had trouble with it. "Tony, Hill sent us over the file on the HYDRA base in Belgium, how do I put it up on the big screen again?" He asked looking at the tablet slightly confused.

"Here." Tony said as he held out his hand. Steve gave it to him and with a tap and a swipe it appeared up on one of the many large screens Tony had installed around the place.

"Ok, so this is all the intel we have on the base in Belgium" Steve said as he addressed the team. "It's well guarded, with soldiers posted here... here and here on the perimeter." He continued on as he pointed to spots on a satellite image. "I think our best plan of attack would be if Clint and Natasha come in from this side" he said pointing to the east. "Bucky and Eva, you guys come in from the west." He added. "Sharon and I will come in from the north. The south side is blocked by hills and mountains so Tony, you can do your thing and come in from the sky," Steve smiled as Tony nodded in approval. He was glad that the two of them were on good terms again.

"Does everyone understand?" Sharon asked and the whole team nodded in agreement.

"Excellent. Everyone gear up, wheels up in two hours." Steve told them all as they finished up their breakfast and left to prepare for their next mission.

Bucky suited up and glanced at Eva who was placing her Colt Python in a holster. He thought back to last night, they hadn't slept together but they nearly had. Bucky had stopped at the last minute. He didn't want to push her so had instead he had just touched her and explored her body a little and she had done the same to him. He could still remember so vividly the feel of her hands on his chest.

"Are you ok?" Eva asked quietly as she looked at the man who was slowly easing his way into her guarded heart and soul. She had been with men before but no one like Bucky. They had never really meant anything to her, they were just a job or a release. With James it was different. He treated her like a person. He considered her feelings and always made sure she was comfortable with him.

"I'm fine, just hope this mission goes okay." Bucky said grimly and Eva nodded before kissing his cheek tenderly.

"You don't regret last night?" She asked quietly and Bucky turned to her with a look of confusion on his usually stoic face.

"Why would I regret being with you, Eva?"

"I don't know, you just seem a little distant." She replied quietly.

"I'm just thinking about the mission and HYDRA, you know... I want to get all of this over and done with. I want to have a normal life." He admitted.

"Me too." She smiled. "So you and me... were ok?"

"We are more than ok." He grinned as he returned her gesture and placed a sweet kiss on her cheek.

* * *

Steve was suiting up as Sharon walked in and began to get her weapons ready.

"You know, you don't have to do this." Steve told her.

"I want to" she insisted. "We have all been affected by HYDRA in one way or another, all of us who work for SHIELD. We were under the rule of HYDRA the whole time and never even knew it. I want to help take them down."

"If you're sure. It's just... I worry about you." Steve admitted a little shyly.

"You worry about me?" She questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, I know that you can take care of yourself, but I just can't help but worry that something might happen to you out in the field"

"You're a sweet man Steve Rodgers." she told him as she placed a warm hand on his cheek and gave him a sweet smile. Her skin felt so soft and he couldn't help but lean into her touch a little. He still hadn't worked up the courage to ask her out on a date yet, but he really liked her. After the way things happened with Peggy, he knew that he shouldn't wait too long. So he promised himself right then, that once they had completed this mission, he would ask her out.

* * *

Natasha and Clint were cleaning and checking their weapons ready for the mission when Nat decided to break the comfortable silence they were sharing. "So about last night..." She trailed off.

Clint looked at her questioningly, a little worried about what she was going to say. He thought that maybe he had over stepped the line when he had walked into her bathroom. But his actions came from a good place within his heart and all he wanted to do was help. "Look I know I shouldn't have come in like that, but honestly Nat I was really worried about you. I needed to make sure you were ok." he told her, trying to defend his actions. "And I swear to you... I didn't even look when... you know" he said, referring to when he helped her out of her wet clothes and into some dry ones.

"I know Clint. It's ok. I'm not mad about it. I'm... relieved I guess." She told him with a small smile and he looked at her a little confused. "I've been bottling things up for so many years now, about the Red Room and what my life was like before. I think I just needed to get it all out. I was a mess last night, and I wanted to say thank you for helping me through it."

"You don't have to thank me Tasha. I would do anything for you. You know that."

"I know." She whispered as he approached him. "But really..." She trailed off as she kissed his lips softly and sweetly. "Thank you Clint."

"Anytime." He whispered back his eyes still closed as he revelled in the kiss, a little shocked by her display of affection. She placed a gentle hand on his chest and gave him a smile before turning to leave. He took a few moments to gather his thoughts before following her out and heading off to prepare the quinjet.

* * *

They all boarded the quinjet and made sure they had everything as Tony had placed the location on the GPS map for Clint as he began flying to Belgium to land near where the base was. Bucky sat beside Eva as he made sure that he had all of his weapons secured in the various holsters on his uniform that Tony had designed.

The base was in the forest with mountains and hills on one side. They were all cautious of traps that HYDRA may have placed around in order to keep away unwanted visitors and each team made their way to the positions they had been given.

"One...two...three!" Steve said over the comms and they all burst into the base, taking the soldiers by surprise.

Bucky broke one man's neck while Eva had used her telepathy to cause a man to shoot himself in the head. She then shot her Colt Python at another soldier that had entered the room upon hearing the gunfire. They cleared the area and made sure that there weren't any more HYDRA soldiers where they were on the west side, and began to search through the rooms.

"Clear, here Steve." Bucky said quietly as he dragged the men into a closet while Eva had been looking on the computer that had been left on.

"There's emails here to a lot of Government officials, I'll copy them for Hill and see if she can find out who this Golovanov guy is." Eva said grimly as she plugged in a USB drive and copied the files over and they were instantly uploaded for Maria to go through.

As Eva finished up, they heard a shout in German and looked up to see three soldiers were making their way down the hallway, looking for one of their colleagues.

"We gotta hide." Bucky said quietly and they quickly hid in a cramped wardrobe, their bodies pushed close together. Eva kept quiet as she used her telepathy to read the men's minds and was disgusted by their thoughts. They were making deals with human traffickers who smuggled in sex slaves.

As they stayed hidden, Eva continued to use her telepathy to gather as much information as she could about the trafficking that the soldiers were discussing. She would speak to the others about it later and most likely pass the information on to the appropriate authorities. When the men cleared out of the room and headed back down the hall Bucky and Eva emerged from the wardrobe and silently followed the men. Bucky grabbed one form behind, snapping his neck while Eva used her powers to make the second soldier shoot the third in the head, then she shot the man she had controlled twice in the chest.

"What's going on Buck, I thought you were clear?" Steve spoke through comms as he heard gunshots.

"We were, three more guys just appeared, and we took care of them. We are doing a final sweep now, then we will meet you at the rendezvous."

"Copy that."

* * *

Clint and Natasha came in from the east, and on Caps count to three Clint kicked in the door. Immediately they were confronted by four HYDRA soldiers. Natasha threw a couple of widow's bites at the men, taking down two of them. While Clint fired off a couple of arrows taking the other two out as well. The proceeded to make their way through the east side of the building, taking out any HYDRA members as they went.

They came to a room, what appeared to be an office. Natasha began searching through a computer while Clint checked a filing cabinet. "Cabinets empty." Clint said as he shut the last drawer.

"Computers been wiped too, someone must have heard us coming."

"Stay sharp." Clint told her. "They can't have gone too far."

The two spies continued through the base when they came to a laboratory. As they entered they saw a man burning a bunch of documents. Paperwork about their experiments no doubt. "Stop!" Natasha yelled quickly. But the man tossed the last of the paper on the flames before yelling. "HEIL HYDRA!" Before swallowing the cyanide capsule hidden in his mouth.

"Son of a bitch." Natasha sighed. Who knows what important information had just gone up in flames?

"Clear here Cap." Clint spoke through his comms. "Proceeding to the rendezvous."

* * *

Tony landed on the roof just as Cap called three and he blasted the door to the roof top fire escape open and jumped down into the building. He had set parts of the building on fire with his pulsor blast and he doused them out while taking out a few HYDRA soldiers. When his area was clear he saw the rest of the team rendezvous at his location.

Natasha, Sharon and Eva began looking through the boxes and he walked over to help. Clint, Steve and Bucky kept guard taking out the last few members of HYDRA that appeared. Tony found a USB stick in a smashed laptop and pulled it out. Clearly HYDRA wasn't as smart as they thought they were, they took the time to try and cover their track by smashing the laptop but didn't bother to remove the USB. _'Amateurs.'_ He thought to himself. He could see what was on it when they got back to the tower.

"Well we tried to talk to one of the soldiers but he shot himself in the head, we think he was working on something top secret. Something that HYDRA didn't want us to know." Steve said grimly as he addressed the whole team.

"Well, Nat and I cleared the lab but all of the scientists killed themselves rather than be dragged to prison and interrogated." Clint said darkly as he tossed an important looking file to Natasha. Some of the writing was in German or French, some even in Russian which Bucky, Eva and Natasha translated together.

"Eva and I found out that HYDRA's been helping a sex trafficking ring. There's a new shipment of girls due to arrive tomorrow night. A truck full of underage girls from Russia, Poland, Serbia, Mexico and Ukraine." Bucky said darkly as Eva found a DVD.

"Damn it." Eva cursed as she turned on the DVD and they all saw it was the Red Room Academy where young girls were being prepped for a procedure.

"What the hell?" Clint asked disgusted as they saw some girls being injected with a sedative before being taken into the operating room where two female surgeons were.

Eva and Natasha exchanged grim glances.

"What are they doing to them?" Steve asked, a worried expression on his face and Natasha sighed sadly.

"Sterilising them. It's like a rite of passage for girls in the Red Room. It's so that we don't have to worry about having a family or being assaulted and having children as a result." Natasha said bitterly. "It makes the job easier apparently."

"This is what that bitch Madame B said they did to you Nat?" Clint asked, and she nodded in reply.

"Did they do this to you too Eva?" Natasha asked gently.

"No, they never did. I don't know why. I guess it had something to do with the fact that they were planning on using me for the Psyche Project." She replied. "I don't know why they didn't just do to me what they did to you, and make me think I was sterilized. I guess they wanted to make me think I was special. That I was different from all the other girls, gain my trust."

"I think we have all we need here." Steve said finally. "I'll call in the other SHIELD agents to ship out all these files and take anyone still left alive... which won't be very many by the sounds of things. Let's move out. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be." He said a little angrily. He hated HYDRA and everything they stood for. All the things they had done, it made him sick.

The team made their way back to the quinjet, as SHIELD agents began the clean-up. Everyone was pretty tired from the fight and couldn't wait to get back to their tower. "Get us out of here." Natasha smiled at Clint as she sat in the co-pilots seat next to him.

* * *

"With pleasure." he replied. He took the controls and began to get the quinjet off the ground and back to the Stark Tower. When they arrived Pepper and Nick Fury were waiting for them.

"Hill and I passed on the information you discovered about the human trafficking ring to the FBI Anti - Trafficking Unit, they've found a lot of information on this scumbag." Fury informed them as they saw an image of a man in his mid to late thirties.

"This is Yuri Golovanov, head of an international sex trafficking ring that also runs child pornography, snuff films and black market baby adoptions. The FBI have been hunting him for seven years but haven't been able to catch the guy due to his lawyers and the fact that the witnesses end up dead or being threatened." Fury said grimly and paused.

"He is also linked to drug deals and arms dealing with HYDRA, one of our agents Benjamin Harvard was close to bringing him down when he got killed." Fury said quietly.

"So he's linked to HYDRA?" Steve asked repulsed.

"Yes."

"God, who isn't in bed with HYDRA these days? It seems like any petty criminal is either working for them or with them." Natasha said angrily.

"It appears HYDRA has quite the reach when it comes to the scumbags of this world." Fury added.

"All the more reason to get rid of them once and for all. Which base is next on our hit list?" He asked Tony who had been reviewing a new bunch of data that Hill had sent him.

"Next up is their base in Elsterberg, Germany." Tony began. "It's a relatively small base, but still heavily guarded. From what Hill has sent me it looks as though this is more of a weapons base than a base for their scientific experiments like the last one."

"Well, that's good news, I guess." Eva spoke up. "I think I have had enough of HYDRA's experiments for a whole lifetime."

"I second that." Nat added.

"We are all pretty battered and bruised. I suggest we take at least a couple of days to heal. There's no point in trying to take on HYDRA if we aren't at our best." Steve told the team.

"I'm with the Captain. A couple days won't make a difference in the grand scheme of things." Fury agreed. Everyone nodded and Fury left the meeting and everyone went their separate ways to rest up until the next mission.

Tony left to spend time with Pepper and catch up with Rhodey, and Clint had gone off with Natasha somewhere. Bucky and Eva had left the room too, and it was just Steve and Sharon. Steve decided to take the opportunity to ask her out as she went to leave. "Hey Sharon… you got a minute?" He asked a little nervously.

"Sure Steve what's up?"

"I was wondering if umm… if you'd like to grab something to eat with me tonight? I mean if you don't have any other plans."

"I'd like that." she smiled.

"Really? Great." he laughed a little at his own awkwardness. "I'm gonna go get cleaned up. Meet you back here in a couple of hours?"

"Sounds perfect." Sharon replied as she left to get cleaned up too.

* * *

Bucky decided to search for Eva after he had his shower. He found Eva sitting in the yoga training room and she was levitating some small hand weights in the air with her telekinesis powers and he quietly sat down next to her. He watched as a faint purple glow surrounded her body for a second, and she started to float into the air and then he realised that he was starting to float as well.

 _'You're not scared, James?'_ Eva asked mentally and he shook his head as he held her hand with his metal one.

 _'I think you're amazing, Eva.'_ He replied mentally and Eva smiled softly at him as she began to gently move herself upside down while he was upright still. She was beautiful.

"You have come such a long way Eva, it's been amazing to watch how you have accepted what has happened to you and you have grown from it. The way you have adapted to everything and harnessed your new powers. You are just incredible." He told her.

She slowly lowered the two of them back down to the floor and she looked at him quietly. "Thank you James. It means a lot to me that you accept me the way that I am. I struggled for a while, when you were gone. I felt like a monster with all the things that they had done to me, and without you there to help me through it I felt lost. And then we found each other again, and even though I was so far gone that there was no coming back, you got through to me. And you made me see that everything was going to be ok. And for the first time in my life, I actually believe that." Eva said as she poured her heart out to him.

Bucky squeezed her hand lightly within his metal one. "I love you Eva." He whispered quietly.

"I love you too." She smiled.

Bucky pulled her into a hug held her tightly and she held him back just as close, loving the sensation of his body on hers, she let him go and she stood up. He stood up with her and noticed that he was a few inches taller than her as he stood close to her and she leaned into him. Bucky was happy that Eva loved him for who he was and wasn't afraid of him at all. He loved her so much. He leaned down and kissed her softly, cupping her face with his hand feeling the warmth from her skin against his fingers, while running his metal hand through her long blonde hair and he growled lightly when she kissed him back passionately.

"You really love me?" Bucky questioned and Eva nodded as she cupped his stubbly cheek with her right hand.

"Yes James, I do love you. I Think I loved since the day we first met over four months ago. There was just something about you." Eva said softly and Bucky pulled her into his strong arms then and kissed her passionately once more. God help him, he just wanted to take her to bed and make love to her all night long. He knew Eva wasn't a virgin, she'd been clear about that with her time in the Red Room. It was part of their training in sexual seduction, Bucky had felt like killing something when he had been told about it by Eva. But he knew that getting mad about it would only make her feel worse about it so he did his best to keep it inside. It would fuel his hatred for HYDRA and he would take them out when the time came.

* * *

 _Enjoy :)_


	8. Mine

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 8

* * *

The team wasn't exactly making the most of their time to rest. Sure they tended to their wounds and aching muscles, but still pretty much the entire team didn't really understand the true meaning of rest. Everyone was often in the gym training for the next mission, trying to get better, faster and stronger. They knew they had to have an edge on their opponents.

Bucky and Eva had spent a lot of time in the yoga/meditation room, focusing on Eva's powers. Discovering all the things she could do, and finding the best ways to control them. They were going to need to utilize them if they were going to beat HYDRA. With all the scientists they had, who knew what kind of weapons they would unleash upon them, not to mention all the weapons they had taken from SHIELD during their... mutiny I guess you could call it.

They had been working away for hours until Bucky finally convinced her to take a break. "We will be useless in a fight if we don't rest up a little." He told her. "We need to save something for the mission."

"I know James. I just want to be able to take them down so badly."

"And we will. I promise you. But for now we have trained enough. Come on, I'll make you something to eat." He said as he held out his hand for her to take.

"Alright." Eva agreed and they headed into the empty kitchen and Bucky started cooking breakfast. Eva made them both a coffee and drank hers happily, savouring the taste of the warm drink, while Bucky finished cooking a couple of omelettes.

Eva smiled at him softly and kissed him tenderly then on the lips, before sitting down at the table and tucking into her food as he did the same, they both definitely needed to eat. They ate in a peaceful silence for a while, both of them simply enjoying each other's company.

"How are your memories?" Eva asked softly.

"I'm remember my family now, my father, mother, brothers and sisters." Bucky said quietly as he looked at her. "I remember some memories about me and Steve. We were best friends, Steve and I. We did everything together. And this was before he was you know... Captain America." Bucky told her.

"So Steve wasn't always... huge?" She chuckled, struggling to find another way to describe the muscular soldier.

"Hahaha, no. Would you believe that he was a scrawny, weedy little kid?"

"No way." She laughed.

"Yes way. I'm not even kidding he weighed like 95 pounds and was only 5 foot 4!" Bucky chuckled and Eva laughed at the thought of Steve being that small. "But even as that scrawny kid, Steve had more courage, bravery and heart than anyone I ever knew." Bucky said nostalgically.

"Sounds like a good friend." Eva smiled.

"He is. He's the best." Bucky grinned. He was glad that the things that were done to him as the winter soldier were wearing off. The majority of his memory had come back, and he almost felt like his old self again. It was a huge weight off his shoulders. Especially knowing that Steve was still his best friend after everything he had done under the control of HYDRA. Eva smiled at him softly and took the plates into the kitchen, when Bucky decided on something.

"I was wondering would you like to go on a date with me?" Bucky asked quietly as he looked at the young woman who he had grown very close to.

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek tenderly. "I'd like that James. Really, I'd like to go on a date with you." Eva said sweetly, causing Bucky to smile.

He kissed her then, pushing her back against the kitchen counter. Eva moaned in his mouth and tangled her hands into his thick dark brown locks, her breathing soft and light. Bucky broke the kiss before things got too heated. "We better stop before I get too carried away." Bucky laughed.

"I wouldn't mind." Eva whispered somewhat seductively.

"Girl, you're gonna be the death of me." He chuckled. "I want to wait for the right time. I want it to be perfect." He told her.

"As long as it's you and me, it would always be perfect." She said with a smile.

"I want to take you out to dinner tonight."

"I'd like that."

"Great. I know the perfect place." He smiled and they went off to enjoy the rest of the day before their dinner date.

* * *

Natasha stood outside Clint's door, internally debating whether she wanted to go through with what she was thinking. Ever since their Red Room take down, something had changed within her. And something had definitely changed between her and Clint. There had always been a spark between them, but now it was like that spark had created a fire, and there was no putting it out. So Natasha decided it was time to embrace it.

She knocked on his door, and upon hearing a muffled sounding 'yeah' she entered. There was Clint, shirtless, doing push ups on his bedroom floor. He finished his set and stood up to look at her, a light sheen of sweat glistening on his muscled chest.

"Hey Tasha... what's up?"

Nat froze for a moment, unable to think about what she was going to say when he was standing in front of her half naked and looking so damn sexy. She had a bit of a speech planned. Of all the things she wanted to tell him, about her, about her time in the red room and about them and their partnership. But all of that seemed to go out the window and all rational thought was lost. Instead she stepped towards him, so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin. She reached up slowly to stoke his cheek with her hands before leaning in and pressing her lips against his.

When she drew back she looked into his blue eyes, assessing his thoughts on what she had just done. Then he gave her a smile and encased her face within his hands before bring his lips down on hers to kiss her passionately. They stopped for a breath and Clint whispered "I've been wanting to do that for so long."

* * *

Bucky was nervous and it wasn't very often that happened. He looked at himself in the mirror, his hair was still a little damp from the shower and he was wearing a black button up shirt, black jeans and black boots. He walked out to the living room and waited for Eva to come down.

He heard high heels clicking and turned to see Eva come down the stairs, her long blonde hair flowing around her face. She was wearing a black satin dress and black high heels. She looked beautiful.

She smiled at him shyly, her blue eyes outlined by black eyeliner, giving them a smoky look. He took her hand and she smiled at him.

"You look beautiful, doll." He said softly as she put on a black leather jacket and Bucky put on a black coat as they headed outside to where his motorcycle was.

"Where are we going?" She asked curiously as they drove for a while before stopping outside an Italian restaurant.

"I remember this place from when I was younger." Bucky said quietly as he helped her off and they headed into the building where they were shown to a room.

They sat together at a table for two towards the back of the restaurant in a private area. There were candles on the table and soft music playing in the background. After a while of looking over the menu, a lovely waitress came and took their order, returning quickly with drinks. It was everything a romantic first date should be. For a while they could forget about the fact that they were two government experiments gone rogue from their captors and now working for SHIELD. They could ignore the fact that in a day's time they would be out in the field again, dodging bullets and kicking ass. They could forget for a while that he was a soldier and she was a spy. Tonight they were just two people, on their first day, and they couldn't have been happier.

As they ate their meals they shared stories from their pasts, what they could remember of them anyway. Bucky told her of the many times he had to jump into fights to stop Steve from getting his ass kicked, because Steve, bless his heart could never walk away if he felt someone was being wronged. He also told her about when Steve rescued him from HYDRA the first time, back in the 1940's. It sounded kind of weird to say that. Considering it would make him almost a hundred years old, even though he still looked like he was in his mid-twenties thanks to the cryo-sleep type thing that HYDRA had him in.

But it never even fazed Eva. Hearing about all the things he went through, only made her love him even more. He was so strong and brave, and she admired that in him. She told him stories about growing up in the Red Room. She still couldn't remember much, but it was slowly coming back. She had fond memories of her and her best friend Malia, and those were the ones she cherished the most. When they had finished their dinner, they ordered tiramisu to share for dessert. They continued swapping stories and getting to know each other on a more personal level.

Eva learnt that Bucky loved baseball and had enjoyed playing football with his two younger brothers Robert and Michael and he had liked reading to his little sister Rebecca. She could tell he missed them as well as his parents. Not to mention his Howling Commandos comrades who were dead or elderly like Peggy Carter who had been Steve's first love.

"I remember my parents a little, my mother was from Ukraine and my father was Russian." Eva said softly as she began remembering her past before the Red Room.

Bucky held her hand tightly.

"They loved you Eva, don't ever doubt that." Bucky said gently to her.

Eva nodded, she remembered that her mother would cook blintzes pancakes or black bread for brunch when she had been alive.

"I know and your parents and siblings loved you...I think that's why me and Malia were so close, she was like a sister to me...I wish I had helped her." She said quietly, remembering het best friend's brutal death at the hands of Yelena Belkov. She could still remember sobbing and screaming after what that woman had done to her friend, slitting her throat like an animal made for slaughter.

"Do you remember what happened to your parents?" Bucky asked quietly.

"I… I was eleven when they died in a train accident. They were walking to pick me up from school one afternoon when something on the tracks caused a train to derail." She recalled. "They tried to run out of its path, but my Mama... she tripped. My Papa, he tried to help her up, but the train was coming too fast. I was told that he realized they weren't going to make it so he wrapped her up in his arms and tried to shield her as much as he could. When they didn't show up at school, I knew something was wrong. We had all heard the sirens."

"Eva... I'm so sorry." Bucky whispered as he took her hand in his, rubbing it gently with his thumb.

"I had no other family, so I was sent to live in an orphanage, and that's when I was recruited by the Red Room." She remembered.

"You have not had an easy life Eva, and I am amazed every day by how strong you are. How you have managed to rise above it all to become that beautiful, selfless and brave woman I have come to know and love." He said with a sweet smile.

"Thank you James."

"What do you say we get out of here huh?" He said as he stood up, and helped her out of her seat.

"I think we should." Eva said softly and stood up as she took his metal hand in hers and they headed back to the Avengers Tower on the motorcycle. Once they reached it, Bucky led her to his room and kicked the door shut behind them. He pressed his lips onto hers and she moaned softly as she started unbuttoning his shirt desperately wanting to see every part of her soon to be lover.

* * *

Bucky pulled it off and let her see his toned, muscled chest and she felt her core get wet in response. He was beautiful, his chest was chiselled from hard work having fought as a soldier.

Bucky pulled her into his arms and kissed her then passionately, when he felt her touch the joint where his metal arm met his human skin he looked at her a little worried. But there was no disgust or judgement in her eyes, only love and understanding in those beautiful blue eyes that he loved so much. He picked her up then, and she kicked off her high heels. He kissed along her neck, causing her to moan softly and she said something in Russian then, which he recognised as an endearment.

"You're not ugly." Eva said firmly. "I want you to know that. I think every part of you is beautiful. Including this." She said as she ran her fingertips over the scarred flesh where his cybernetic arm began.

"You have no idea how much I love you." Bucky whispered as he carried her towards his bed where he lay her down. He slowly crawled on top of her, propped up slightly by his arms so not to push all his weight down upon her. He softly kissed her neck and began trailing down her collarbone and towards her chest leaving a burning tingling sensation in his wake that left Eva wanting more.

He sat up then, pulling her up with him as he unzipped the back of her dress and peeled it down her shoulders. He lay her back down and continued to remove her dress, tossing it aside so that she was left in nothing but her matching lace bra and panties. "Jesus Christ you're beautiful!" He exclaimed as he surveyed her body, trying to commit every inch of it to memory.

Bucky cupped her face and kissed her with a burning passion before trailing his hands downward to cup her breasts. He kneaded them beneath his hands and enjoyed the moans that came from her mouth. He wanted to make it last as long as possible but he was having a hard time controlling himself. The more he had of her, the more he wanted. He lifted her up so that they were both on their knees and he unhooked her bra, freeing her gorgeous breasts.

Eva stood up then and tugged on Bucky's hand urging him to stand with her. She ran her fingers down his chest, caressing his muscles as she went, trailing down lower and lower until she reached his jeans. She made quick work of his belt, unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans before pushing them down his legs, leaving him in just his boxers. She was pleasantly surprised at the sight of his nearly naked body. They hadn't quite gone this far the other night. She could see the outline of his erection beneath his tight boxers and it only made her even wetter and ache for him more.

Bucky growled then roughly and pulled down her panties, her body shuddering in response. She pulled off his boxers and he pushed her back down onto the bed gently.

He interlaced his metal fingers with hers as he lay down with her, and shuddered in pleasure as he felt her soft body against his hard one. He saw faded scars on her legs from the operations HYDRA had performed on her when they had been crushed.

"I love you, you're so beautiful." He whispered quietly as he kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around his neck, running her hands through his dark brown hair.

"You're beautiful too, James, I love you so much." Eva said reassuringly and Bucky moaned then, his heart filling with love for this beautiful young woman.

He growled as he nuzzled her neck tenderly, stroking her breast with his metal hand before moving on top of her as he looked at her intently then.

 _'Are you sure?'_ He asked mentally.

 _'I'm sure, don't worry.'_ Eva reassured him and he took a deep breath as he slid into her slowly.

Eva gasped as he entered her. Although she had been with men before, it had never felt like this. Bucky was... well-built to say the least and it felt so good to have him inside of her. But it wasn't just the physical feeling, it was all the emotions that came along with it. That was all very foreign to her. She had had sex, yes. But she had never made love.

"You ok?" He asked, observing how her brow furrowed slightly.

"Yeah... you're just..." She trailed off.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't, I promise. Just go slow." She instructed.

"Ok." He whispered as he kissed her passionately and began to gently move in and out of her. As she became used to the size of him, the discomfort faded and all she could feel was pleasure. She moaned in response to his movements, encouraging him to push a little harder. Sweat began to bead on his forehead as he made love to her gently.

"You feel amazing Eva." He whispered as he nibbled on her ear and sucked her neck softly.

"So do you." She replied softly. "No one has ever made me feel this good." She admitted. She wasn't sure she had ever really experienced a proper orgasm before, but she had a feeling she was about to as a tension began to build up deep inside of her.

"Can...Can I?" Bucky asked quietly as he lowered his human hand, Eva nodded and he began stroking her throbbing clit, causing her to gasp and cry out in pleasure. He growled wolfishly and circled his fingers while thrusting into her, causing her to dig her nails into his shoulders leaving light marks on his skin.

"James, you feel so good." Eva whispered heavily as he leaned down and kissed her passionately.

"You're mine, you're so beautiful Eva." Bucky growled roughly as he sat up and had her wrap her legs around his waist so he could push further inside her. She moaned at the sensation and began kissing at his neck, biting and sucking lightly as he wrapped his arm around her tightly, burying his face into her neck. His. She was his.

"I'm all yours James." She whispered as he thrust into her harder. He could feel her start to tighten around him and he knew she was getting close. He continued to stroke her with his hand as he buried himself deep inside of her.

"I want to make you come for me, baby." He whispered seductively in a low gravelly tone.

The sound of his voice alone was almost enough to make her lose it completely. "Shit... I'm so close." She panted.

He held her shoulder tight with his metal hand as he thrust up into her. Her cries of pleasure only making him quicken his pace as he pushed as deep as he could without hurting her. "Oh god Jamie." She panted wildly.

"Come for me Eva... c'mon baby." He whispered while he still rubbed her, and within a few seconds he felt her whole body begin to shake and she screamed out his name in pleasure. It was the sexiest sound he had ever heard and it didn't take long before he followed her over the edge to ecstasy as he came too.

"Holy shit..." He panted.

"That was amazing James." She said as she fell against his chest and he wrapped his strong arms around her. Bucky smiled and buried his face into her hair, loving the softness of it. He stayed inside her for a while, not wanting to pull out, and Eva didn't seem to want him to either. He cradled her tightly as she rested her head on his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart begin to slow down. She kissed his metal fingers tenderly and he stroked her face gently.

"You're amazing." Bucky whispered quietly as he held her tightly, and she leaned into him and smiled.

"I love you." Eva said softly.

"I love you too." Bucky replied and she knew he meant it. He pressed his lips to hers in a loving and gentle kiss making her smile against his lips. They both lay down and she curled up against his body.

"My warrior." Eva said softly as she ran her fingers tenderly over various scars on his skin.

* * *

 _We hope you enjoyed the chapter. Enjoy :)_


	9. Recon

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 9

* * *

"You're my warrior." Bucky said quietly and held her tightly as they both started drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Bucky woke up to see Eva still sound asleep, her long blonde hair had fallen over his chest and he nuzzled her face tenderly with his. There was a small smile on her lips as she slept soundly. She really loved him.

"I love you, doll." Bucky whispered quietly and kissed her softly as he watched her sleep for a little while and held her close. As his eyes roamed over her exposed body he noticed there were slight bruises on her hips. He'd been a bit rough with her after their first time but she hadn't minded. She had liked him being a bit feral and primal with her. She said he was her wolf.

When Eva stirred and began to wake she found herself curled tightly against Bucky's strong muscular chest, and she had never felt more at home. Wrapped up in his arms is where she wanted to stay forever, but she knew they had some work to do before they would finally get their happy ever after and live the life they wanted.

"Morning baby." She whispered to him as he was lazily drawing circles on the skin of her back with his fingertips.

"Morning." He replied as he kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"A little sore and tired to be honest." She chuckled. "But otherwise... better than I have felt in years." she said with a sweet smile.

"Me too sweetheart, me too." He smiled.

After a quick shower, they made their way down to the kitchen for breakfast and they walked in hand in hand. When they got there, they found Steve and Sharon sitting at the counter sharing a plate of toast. Steve saw the couple's hands linked together and gave his best friend a questioning kind of look. Bucky replied with a small smile and a silent nod as if to say _'yup, we're a thing now,'_ and Steve just smiled in reply.

Bucky fixed the two of them some cereal, while Eva made coffees and they all sat down together and ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence. That is until Tony strolled in announcing that Hill had sent him some new intel for their next mission in Elsterberg.

"Apparently HYDRA have been experimenting some more on young women from the Red Room Program. They've been given unknown powers and Fury gave me their records." Tony informed them. "It might pay to read up on these, we don't know who we will come across in Elsterberg." He said a Natasha wandered into the kitchen.

Eva and Natasha scanned the files, trying to see if they could recognise any of them. Natasha stopped on a page when she recognised a dark haired young girl that had haunted her for years.

Marina Blumenfeld.

"I recognise her, she was in the same year as me and trained with me in the Red Room." Natasha said quietly. "We were rivals I guess you could say."

"I know the blonde woman, that's Yelena Belkova...she was the year above me and a psychotic bitch." Eva said bitterly as she read on the file of her enemy. She had killed a lot of diplomats, chemical engineers and a prominent anti-communist who had been of Ukraine nationality as she kept reading that was when she saw Yelena's file got bloodier.

The woman had killed a family of five during the early 2000's in Cuba, the only survivors were two twins, a boy and a little girl who were then raised by their grandparents in a wealthy neighbourhood of Columbia.

That had HYDRA written all over it. Had she been working for them even back then?

"Ok so we are going to be dealing with a whole lot of new stuff on this one." Steve said grimly. "Everyone is gonna need to bring their A game. And Eva, I know it's not going to be easy thing for you to do, fighting against people you once knew, but we are really going to need you on this one. How are you going with your powers?"

"James and I have been working together on them. I have discovered a lot more things I can do, and I have a complete control now. I'm ready for this." She told him.

"Good. We leave first thing tomorrow. Everyone make sure you rest up, we all need to be at 100% for this. Who knows what we are going to be up against."

The team dispersed, the majority of them prepping for their mission tomorrow. Natasha and Clint were down in the armoury, stripping and cleaning their weapons, while Tony was in his lab tinkering with his suit. Steve and Bucky were going over the map of the facility, figuring out what their plan of attack would be from a military point of view, while Eva and Sharon talked together in the living room. The two had become close since meeting and were now checking to see if there were any clues in any of the videos they had gathered that detailed what had happened exactly in the Red Room.

Eva could remember a little, but some of her memories were still foggy in places so Natasha was a big help. They were looking through the files, when Sharon came across something familiar.

 _'Project Psyche.'  
_  
"This is dated during the days of the Soviet Union, they tested and experimented on young orphaned girls who showed potential after watching them fight at the academy." Sharon read disgusted. "They were in the planning stages of this project even way back then." She said both worried and astounded.

"There's a small S.H.I.E.L.D file on the Red Room too. A young agent, Peggy Carter encountered an agent by the name of Dottie Underwood who underwent training at the Red Room." Eva said alarmed.

Sharon looked up at the mention of her Aunt.

"My Aunt Peggy was there?"

"Your Aunt is Peggy Carter?... THE Peggy Carter?" Eva questioned.

"Yes... why?"

"Oh nothing, just something Bucky had mentioned to me about Peggy being Steve's love back in the 1940's. Wow! This just got super awkward." Eva chuckled little. "Does Steve know?" She asked.

"He does." Sharon confirmed. "We uhhh, we went on a date the other day." She said blushing a little. "We talked a lot, and got to know each other more. He told me about his time in the army and the subject of my Aunt came up. I knew from his file that they had a thing, but it turns out Steve didn't click that she and I were related. But it's not a big deal, he's had to let go of her, and he is just happy that she got the chance to live a full and happy life while he was gone." Sharon told her.

"Aww that's sweet. He's such a gentleman. So you two are together now?" Eva asked excitedly.

"I guess so." She replied with a smile. "You and Bucky? You guys looked pretty cosy when you came down for breakfast." She laughed.

"James and I had been through a lot together, I think it's been a long time coming, He and I."

"I'm glad you two are happy. You both deserve it."

"Thanks Sharon." She smiled. "I'm glad Steve finally asked you on a date. Bucky said he's been chickening out for weeks!" Eva laughed.

"He gets so shy, bless him." Sharon giggled.

It felt good to have some girl talk. It had been a very long time since Eva had any real friends. But the Avengers team weren't just her friends. They were becoming like a family to her. Eva didn't have any other family than her parents who had died so long ago, so having the Avengers was comforting and she cared about them very much. She just hoped none of them got hurt on this mission.

* * *

Getting ready for the mission, the whole team was pretty anxious and on edge as they had no idea of what they might see in the underground bunker. Clint and Natasha flew the jet as the team sat in the back. Eva looked at her hands which she was making glow a dark violet purple colour.

They carefully landed the jet in stealth mode nearby and got out making their way to the base. As they neared they saw the base was guarded by two men on watch and there were a couple more in guard towers.

"Maybe we should take them out with a sniper rifle?" Clint suggested and Steve nodded as Bucky moved into the forest with his rifle and they saw the two men in the guard towers go down silently a minute later, while Clint fired a couple of arrows at the other two men by the gate, killing them instantly and quietly.

Bucky came back then and they quickly dragged the bodies behind a truck. Eva and Natasha looked through their pockets and found key cards along with a letter addressed to each man.

Eva opened one of the letters and began to read it aloud so the whole team could hear. "Congratulations, you have been chosen for the very important task of securing the Weapons Base 'Indigo Hammer,'. You are to guard the perimeter and under no circumstances are you to enter the facility. If the perimeter is breached sound the alarm and commence the evacuation and self-destruct sequence. Heil HYDRA. Signed Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker." She read.

"Did you say Indigo Hammer?" Steve asked concerned.

"Yeah." Eva replied as she handed him the letter so he could see for himself. "Why?"

"Back in world war two the British used what they called Rainbow Codes, to disguise the nature of top secret military projects." He told the team.

"So what does Indigo Hammer mean?" Clint asked concerned.

"It means nuclear weapons." Steve said grimly.

"They're keeping nukes here?" Clint asked, sounding a little worried.

"It's probably more like they are building nukes here." Tony chimed in.

"Right, so we know that they have weapons of mass destruction, and we all know HYDRA well enough to know that they will have no problems in detonating them. We need to move as quickly and as quietly as possible, we don't want anyone to start the self-destruct sequence, and we definitely don't want any Nukes going off." Steve said. "If or when we get made, we need to take anyone left out quickly. Who knows what other weapons they have so we go in teams, make sure we have each other's backs. "Clint, Natasha you take the left hand side. Bucky and Eva, you take the right. Sharon, Tony and I will go through the middle. Let's go!" He told them and they took their positions at the three entrances beyond the gates.

* * *

Clint and Natasha cautiously walked through the hallway, keeping an eye out for anyone. Clint had his bow pointed ahead of them, while Nat covered his back. They checked each and every room they passed only to find they were virtually empty. When they came to a locked door, Natasha picked it and they entered. They saw a storage container near the back of the room, and shelves with smaller crates either side. They cautiously proceeded.

Natasha opened the large storage container and saw that it had something big inside of it, but it was long. They heard footsteps approach from the door and Clint took out a man with an arrow through the eye.

"Anything?" Clint asked quietly as he helped Natasha look through the boxes.

"Nothing. There's nothing here, it's all empty." She said as she looked around then and saw two guards coming down the hallway. She threw a Widow's Bite at one of them, shocking him while Clint dispatched the other one with an electric arrow.

When they made sure no more soldiers were coming they continued to search the crates. In the smaller crates they found various guns and rocket launchers, all with special types of ammunition, each housing a different coloured liquid. Natasha pocketed some of the ammunition and Clint grabbed a few of the rockets to give to Tony for analysing. But the larger crates were all empty. Whatever was in them had been removed.

"Clear this side Steve." Clint spoke through his comms. "Heading your way now."

"Copy that."

* * *

Bucky and Eva made their way through right side of the building, taking out any HYDRA soldiers that got in their way. They came to an armoury, where the walls were lined with weapons some of the likes they had never seen before.

"I'm guessing a lot of these are experimental." Bucky said as he picked up a rifle and checked it out.

"Well, we both know HYDRA's all about experimenting." Eva said darkly.

There was a large crate at the far end and Eva went to check it out while Bucky inspected more of the weapons. She opened the lid to find it empty. "Whatever was in here was pretty big!" She called out to Bucky. When he didn't answer her, she spun around immediately to see two HYDRA soldiers restraining him while a third had a gun pointed at his head. Two more standing behind them with guns pointed at her.

"Put down your weapon!" One of them called out to her, gesturing to her colt.

"Don't do it Eva!" Bucky yelled urgently.

"Shut up!" One of the soldiers shouted as he kicked the back of Bucky's knee causing him to buckle to the ground.

"Don't hurt him!" Eva screamed.

"You're not in the position to be making demands, now put down your weapon." The soldier said as he pushed the muzzle of his gun hard against Bucky's temple.

"Eva..." He warned, not wanting her to give up her weapon.

However she ignored Bucky's warning and knelt down to place her colt python on the ground and kicked it toward the soldiers. As she stood back up she began to slowly put her hands behind her head in surrender. Bucky was about to scold her for giving up her weapon, but as he watched her put her hands behind her head he saw them begin to glow purple, he knew she had other plans. As one of the soldiers approached her, Eva took a deep breath and focused all her energy. When he was just a few feet away her whole body radiated purple and she let out an almighty cry as a huge surge of energy was released from her body. The blast wave made its way across the room virtually disintegrating the HYDRA soldiers to piles of ash and leaving Bucky unharmed.

"Thank you Eva." He whispered as he pulled her into a quick hug. "Your control over your powers has grown so strong. I'm proud of you babe."

"I had something special to fight for, it helps me focus." She said with a smile.

"C'mon, let's finish clearing this area and meet up with the others."

* * *

Tony, Sharon and Steve had finished cleared their part of the area and had met the rest of the team at the rendezvous point.

"Any luck on finding the nukes?" Steve asked and they all shook their heads.

"Nothing. They must have moved them before we got here." Tony said grimly. "Either they knew we were coming, or they have something big planned and they cleared out."

"I don't like the sound of either one of those scenarios." Clint said uneasily.

"There weren't any nuclear weapons here, Strucker must have moved them after what happened in the Red Room." Natasha said grimly.

That was when they heard an alarm go off from Tony's suit and all of them stilled then.

"Sir, someone has fired a missile at us." Jarvis said concerned, causing everyone to stare.

"I had Jarvis hack into a satellite, make sure we had no nasty surprises." Tony spoke up.

"Who the hell fired a missile at us?!" Clint asked alarmed.

Tony looked down and swallowed as Jarvis put up the information on a small screen inside the wrist panel of his suit.

"The US Army did under the orders of Home Secretary Thaddeus Ross just five minutes ago."

"Everybody clear out NOW!" Steve ordered and the team began to sprint for the exit.

As they made it out of the building Clint yelled. "Get to the jet!" as Tony picked him up and flew him there faster so that he could start it up before the team got there. As soon as everyone was on board, Clint got them up in the air just in time to see the bunker below them become engulfed in flames. A shockwave rattled the quinjet and Clint and Nat did their best to keep it steady before switching to stealth mode and getting out of there as fast as they could.

"What the hell was that?" Steve asked, enraged. "Why is the US army attacking us!?"

"Well in all fairness, we are kind of under the radar here. They probably had no idea we were even in there." Tony told him.

"Who is Thaddeus Ross?" Eva asked curiously.

"He's the bastard who helped turn our good friend Bruce Banner into the enormous green rage monster you may have seen on the news." Tony replied.

"So he's not on our side?" Bucky questioned.

"Kinda... maybe... no not really." Tony said rather indecisively. "Who knows? To be honest I don't trust anyone outside of this team, government or otherwise. Especially government."

"I'll contact Fury, get him and Hill to look into it and find out what's going on. If it wasn't for Jarvis, we could all be dead right now... Thanks Jarvis." Steve said gratefully.

"You're very welcome Captain." Jarvis spoke through Tony's suit.

"So we shouldn't trust Thaddeus Ross?" Eva questioned.

"Honest answer? No, we shouldn't trust Ross or anyone who works with him to be frank. He doesn't really like people who are enhanced." Sharon said bitterly.

Eva wasn't surprised by that information, she had figured that this Thaddeus Ross sounded like an arrogant military man who believed that he was right and everyone else was wrong. She had a special word she used for men like him.

Asshole.

"So all we know is that HYDRA had nuclear weapons along with biological weapons and can use them on any country or city...and we have no way of knowing what is going on." Natasha said grimly and everyone sighed.

"You don't think that they're trying to make another war, do you?" Bucky asked quietly.

"I sure hope not." Steve replied grimly. "Or it will be a war like we have never seen before."

"Judging by some of the weapons we saw, our military wouldn't stand a chance." Bucky said grimly.

"There was some pretty experimental looking stuff in there, I don't think I have even seen stuff at that level in SHIELD." Clint added from up the front of the jet.

"Whatever happens, we will deal with it as a team. That's what we do." Tony told everyone, surprising them all by abandoning his usually self-centred, egotistical ways. "I've collected up some samples of their ammunition, as did Barton and Romanoff, for testing, so we can see what these bastards are packing. With any luck I might be able to create something to counter act them, at least that way they won't have the upper hand anymore."

"Good thinking Tony." Steve said as he clapped him on the back.

While Clint and Natasha flew the quinjet back to the Avengers Tower the team rested up. All except for Steve who was having a rather head phone conversation with Nick Fury about the US military and Thaddeus Ross.

* * *

When the team had arrived back, once they had sat through a debriefing, they went off to clean up and relax a bit before planning their next attack on the third HYDRA base. After a quick shower Tony went straight to his lab and began testing the samples he had collected, hoping to go he could find out what exactly they were, as well as a way to render them useless.


	10. Uneasy News

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 10

* * *

The next day was spent looking over what information they had on the next base which was located in a forest in Munich, Germany.

Eva was focusing on her powers and making sure she was completely ready. She could do a lot of things but still had limits. One of them was that she couldn't read any machines, even if they were an artificial intelligence type of thing. She found that she could get inside people's heads and could manipulate them into seeing something that frightened them. Tony had said that it was fear manipulation. Yeah, that was something she had no intention of using on the team.

She made her way to the kitchen and got a bottle of chocolate milkshake and drank it as her thoughts drifted to her parents then. Her mother had shared her blonde hair colouring but she had her father's dark blue eyes. She knew that they were buried in Moscow next to their parents, and she hoped to go and visit them one day. She had been an only child as her mother had struggled to have any more children after her, but they were happy just to have Eva.

She had always wanted a younger sister, she guessed that's why she had gotten along so well with Malia. Eva had always looked after her, just like a big sister would. When she had been killed at the hands of Yelena, that psychotic bitch, Eva had been devastated. A part of her died that day too.

"Hey babe, what ya thinking about?" Bucky asked as he approached her.

"Oh hey James." She replied, after being brought out of her day dream. "Just thinking about friends and family." She told him. "I'm worried James, everyone I had ever loved has been killed. I don't want that to happen to you."

"Don't worry about me Eva, I can take care of myself. And I know that you always have my back, just like I always have yours."

"Thank you James. I love you." She smiled.

"I love you too Eva. More than anything else in this world."

Eva hugged him and he held her back tightly, as Tony came into the living room looking slightly worried.

"I think we have a really big problem with those weapons." He said seriously, causing them both to look over at him. As well as Clint who had been looking up something on his IPad with Natasha.

"The ones that we found at the base?" Natasha asked concerned. Just then Steve and Sharon came back from their lunch date, and Pepper entered the room as well.

"Yeah, I was trying to see what they were made from and didn't have any luck. All of the substances are unknown and I think some of those weapons were stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D when Steve and Natasha exposed them." Tony explained looking slightly worried.

"Did you tell Fury and Maria?" Bucky asked concerned as he held Eva's hand tightly in his human one.

"I just got off the phone with them...when HYDRA attacked one of the S.H.I.E.L.D bases in Tampa, a lot of alien weapons were stolen along with Loki's sceptre." Pepper said gravely.

"Oh crap. That's not good." Steve said in a worried tone. "That sceptre has a similar origin to the tesseract, and we all know what hell that unleashed. We need to move on this and fast."

"I agree with the captain. The longer we leave this in the hands of HYDRA the more chance they have of figuring out how it works and utilizing its power to make more weapons of mass destruction. It is far too dangerous of a weapon to be in their hands." Tony spoke up.

"Ok team, everyone gear up and get ready for the next mission. Clint, I want us flying out of here in two hours. We will take the third base, located in Munich, as soon as possible." Steve said as he addressed everyone.

"You got it." Clint replied as he and Natasha left the room to get ready and prepare the quinjet. Bucky and Eva made their way to the armoury along with Steve and Sharon. Tony said a quick goodbye to Pepper, who urged him to be careful and stay safe before giving him a quick kiss. He then went to his lab to get his suit ready.

As per the Captain's orders the team took off within two hours and headed for Germany. Everyone was very anxious, the stakes were very high. If they didn't get Loki's sceptre back, and fast, they could have another disaster like New York on their hands.

Eva felt worried, she had seen the battle of New York on TV and it had shocked her but she was not surprised that there were other alien species in the world. In a way, it sort of made her laugh at those arrogant people who stated that humans were the only species and she shook her head.

When they landed in a forest, there was no sign of anyone in the nearby and they cautiously looked around. They all took cover when they heard a vehicle approach and watched quietly as they saw a green armoured truck driving to the edge of the ravine and begin to dump bodies.

"That's three people who died of the experiments." The soldier said disdainfully.

"Yeah well, you heard what the boss said about the Avengers searching for the stolen weapons. They've got the Winter Soldier and Psyche on their side along with those two other assassins, Hawkeye and Black Widow. He needs a stronger army. At least we've got a couple of our own weapons." The man said smugly.

"Like who?" The other man asked sceptically.

"He may not have been successful lately, but I heard that he had a couple of Red Room girls experiments work out not too long ago." The soldier said.

"Two girls?" The man laughed. "You think two girls are going to be able to take on The Avengers? Especially when they have his most successful experiment, Psyche on their side."

"I can't say I have seen what they can do myself. But I've heard things. These girls are pretty powerful. I guess time will tell." he replied before they climbed into the truck and headed back to the base.

"Well, now we know what we are up against." Natasha said. "A little at least. Do you think they were talking about Yelena and Marina?" She said to Eva.

"Maybe." Eva replied. "That would explain why we haven't found either of them yet.

"Looks like we are going to be in for the fight of our lives when we do" Natasha said grimly.

"We're ready" Eva said confidently. "We can take whatever HYDRA throws at us."

"Amen to that, little Russian doll." Tony applauded, causing everyone to glare at him. "What, just trying to lighten the mood." He said as they started walking to the base and saw it was guarded like the previous one had been.

"Bucky, Eva take the right side, Clint and Natasha take the left side while me, Sharon and Tony and I will take the middle, just like last time." Steve instructed and they all nodded.

"And be careful, we have no idea what they have in there." Steve said grimly as they all split up.

* * *

Natasha and Clint looked around cautiously as they searched for the sceptre or any of the other weapons, but they found nothing. Not even a trace. The left side of the base was silent until they reached what looked like an experiment lab. Unlike the others that they had come across, this one seemed like it was designed more for weapons that people. Then they heard a laugh from behind them.

"I've been waiting for you, Natalia." A voice said.

Clint and Natasha both whipped around to see where the voice had come from, only to come face to face with Marina Blumenfeld. Her eyes glowed a sickly kind of blue, just like Clint's when he had been under the influence of Loki through the powers of his sceptre. Clint hastily pulled an arrow from his quiver and lined up his shot, but Marina shot her hand out towards him and he found he couldn't move. She had his whole body frozen.

"Awww Natalia... who's this? You're little boyfriend." She mocked. "Sorry Robin Hood, you don't get to save Maid Marian... not today." She laughed as she cast her hand aside sending Clint hurtling across the room and crashing head first into a small filing cabinet sitting on top of a desk before crumbling to the ground unconscious.

"CLINT!" Natasha yelled as she tried to rush to his side, but Marina quickly blocked her way and swung a swift sweeping kick into her stomach knocking her back.

"Uh, uh, uh Natalia. You and I have a little date... this has been a long time coming." Marina cackled like a maniac.

"It's Natasha, bitch! And you are gonna regret what you did to him!" She yelled, as she nodded towards Clint's unconscious body before she charged at her arch rival tackling her to the ground before landing punch after punch in a blind rage. Marina used some sort of powers, similar to Eva's and threw her off of her and up into the air, rolling out from beneath just in time for Natasha to come crashing down on the hard concrete floor with a thud.

"That all you got Romanova. I remember you being stronger than this. What has the outside world done to you huh? You're weak!" She yelled as she kicked her in the stomach making her roll onto her back. Natasha rolled away and quickly got back up onto her feet. Marina came at her, swinging punches left, right and centre and Natasha did her best to block them all, a few slipping through and connecting with her. Whatever HYDRA and the Red Room had done to her was definitely not good. She was strong, very strong and it was going to take all Natasha had to beat her.

She kneed Marina in the stomach making her stumble back a little, before grabbing her head and pulling her down to connect her face with her knee with a sickening crack. Marina fell to the ground and writhed around for a moment holding her bloodied face. "You broke my nose you fucking bitch!" She yelled as she got up and charged back at Natasha.

She jumped in the air a few feet out and landed a flying punch to Natasha's head just above her left eye. Instantly blood poured down Natasha's face and into her eyes making it hard for her to see.

Marina took full advantage of the situation, sweeping Natasha's legs out from under her with a swift kick. As her fist hurtled towards her face Natasha rolled away just in time and Marina's hand hit the floor with a loud thud. The Black Widow quickly stood up and regained her composure, her fists at the ready. If Marina wanted a full on fight, she was going to get one.

* * *

Bucky and Eva fought side by side as they took out the numerous HYDRA agents before clearing the area as they saw no sign of Yelena Belkova.

"She's not here." Eva said grimly and placed her gun into a holster on her left hip as they searched around for the missing nuclear weapons. "There's nothing here. This place is practically empty."

"Maybe they have her and that other woman somewhere else?" Bucky asked quietly. As they searched further the hallway they reached the end of the building and headed across to the other side. As they came around the corner they saw Natasha fighting a dark brunette haired woman, and Clint was unconscious on the ground.

"Clint?" Bucky asked quietly as they rushed to his side and he checked the man's pulse. He was alive but had a nasty bump on the head and a small cut. They looked over at Natasha who had been pinned on the floor by Marina Blumenfeld. The Red Room agent was landing punches to Natasha's head and it looked like she was in trouble. "I should help her." Eva said. But before she got the chance Natasha had turned the tables on her opponent, wrapping her legs around her neck and pulling her to the ground. She quickly scrambled to pin the other woman as she held her in a head lock while her legs wrapped around her arms locking them by her sides so that she couldn't fight back.

Marina threw her head back connecting with Natasha's as she worsened the wound to her face. Natasha let out an almighty cry of pain and rage before she twisted Marina's head beneath her arms until she heard a loud snap and the woman went limp beneath her. She quickly pushed the woman off of her and scrambled uneasily to her feet.

"Natasha, are you alright?" Eva asked concerned.

"I'm okay." Natasha panted as she wiped the blood from her face. Her eyebrow had been split open in the fight and blood was streaming down her face. She was struggling for breath and was pretty sure she had cracked or broken a few ribs in the struggle. Quickly she limped over to Clint, kneeling down beside him, and tried to wake him up.

"Clint!" She shouted as she shook his shoulders. "C'mon Clint wake up!"

He began to come to and when he realized where he was and what had happened moments before he was knocked unconscious he suddenly sat up screaming Natasha's name.

"Clint, it's okay. I'm here." Natasha told him as she grabbed hold of his arm. He searched the room looking for any signs of threat with his Hawkeye vision, coming across Marina's dead body, before quickly flicking his eyes back to his partner.

"Shit Nat are you okay? What happened?" He asked, concerned by the amount of blood on her face and her general beaten up demeanour. He cupped her face with his hands as he surveyed the nasty wound to her head. Before embracing her in a tight hug.

"I'm alright Clint, just banged up is all. I took that bitch down." She smiled, trying to make light of the situation.

"That's my girl!" Clint told her proudly. He tried to stand but he was still rather dizzy from his head wound.

"Here, let us help." Bucky said as he pulled Clint's arm around his shoulder and helped him to his feet, while Eva did the same with Natasha so she could keep the weight of her injured leg.

"Steve, we're heading your way. We have Clint and Natasha, they are both injured." Bucky spoke through his comms

"Waiting for you in the entrance way." Steve informed him as they helped their two injured friends to where the rest of their team was.

"Damn, who the hell beat you two up?" Tony asked astonished as he looked at his two friends who looked battered as Sharon tended to their injuries.

"Marina Blumenfeld, Red Room operative." Natasha stated.

"Is she…?" Steve asked, not sure if he wanted to finish the sentence.

"She's dead." Romanoff stated simply.

"Sir, it would seem we are being attacked by androids." Jarvis informed them and they froze in disbelief.

"Umm, did Jarvis just say androids?" Eva asked shocked as she heard a tearing sound as the roof of the facility was ripped open. They saw robots that were made out of a strong metal make their way in and start firing at them.

Eva threw a mental shield over the team, causing the bullets to bounce off as they raced outside away from the androids.

Tony fired small missiles from his suit, blowing up a few of their robotic attackers, but there were a lot of them, and the shape that some of them team was in they were going to have a hard time fighting them off. He continued to use his pulsors to blast the androids as Eva held up her shield, covering Steve, Sharon and Bucky as they helped Clint and Natasha to safety at the quinjet before the two men raced back to join the fight. Sharon staying behind to make sure their injured team mates were ok.

As one of them approached Bucky, he used his guns, but the bullets couldn't penetrate the androids armour. "Shit!" He cursed as it launched itself at him. It took him a while to get the upper hand, but when he did he swiftly snapped its neck twisting it right around, rendering it useless as he flopped it to the ground.

Steve used his shield to take down a couple more, taking their heads clean off with a brutal blow. "Guys, there's too many of them. I don't think we can take em all!" He yelled out to his team mates.

"Eva, if you have any more fancy tricks up your sleeve, now would be the time to bust them out." Tony said seriously.

With a nod Eva focused all her energy. Raising her arms up she sent a massive electrical blast wave through the air, frying the circuits of the androids and they all collapsed to the ground. Just to be on the safe side Steve and Tony went around them all, making sure none of them were still working, and breaking their necks to disconnect their heads so they couldn't get them up and running again.

"Great work Eva." Bucky said as he gave her a quick hug. "Let's get out of here huh." He said as he walked hand in hand with her back to the quinjet.

"Clint, are you good to fly?" Steve asked as he approached their pilot.

"Yeah, I'm okay man, the dizziness has gone away now. Your girlfriend gave me some painkillers too." He reassured the captain, making Steve blush at the mention of Sharon being his girlfriend.

"Glad you're okay. Get us in the air and out of this place, I'm gonna call Fury and let him know the SHIELD team on standby can swoop in to search the facility and destroy it." Steve said as he wandered to the back of the jet, pulling out his phone to dial the directors number.

* * *

Clint nodded in understanding and began flying the jet while Steve called Fury. An exhausted Eva collapsed onto a seat looking drained and exhausted.

Bucky helped her drink a bottle of water and she smiled at him in thanks. "Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm alright." She reassured him. "Just tired. Using my powers took a lot out of me." She told him.

As they began flying to New York, another quinjet arrived to take in the destroyed androids. "Do you think HYDRA is building an android army to take on SHIELD and the US Government?" Eva asked quietly, she had never seen anything like those androids before and the fact that HYDRA had nuclear weapons, was worrying to say the least.

"From the way things looked, I'd say yes they were. They were all made out of a weird metal." Bucky said frowning and Tony spoke up then from where he had been taking off his helmet.

"The androids were made out of Vibranium metal, that's why the guns didn't work on them. It's the strongest metal in the world, Cap's shield, Barnes's metal arm and Eva's bones in her legs are all made out of that material. It's virtually indestructible." Tony informed.

Sharon just finished a phone call and approached the rest of the team. "Well you're right about that. A Vibranium base in Wakanda was robbed five months ago and again two weeks ago for Vibranium, they took a lot of it." Sharon said gravely.

"Isn't Black Panther the protector of the Wakanda tribe?" Eva asked curiously, she'd heard stories about a supposed man who was able to fight like a Panther and had metal claws.

"Yes, his name is Prince T'Challa." Sharon informed her and they all took that in silently. He could be an ally in the future. If things kept going the way they were they might need all the help they could get to take down HYDRA.

"Fury and Hill can deal with the Vibranium problem in Wakanda, we have bigger issues on our hands. Like how to stop and army of androids and take down the rest of HYDRA. I want rid of these bastards once and for all." Tony spoke up.

"I agree with Tony. We need to focus on one thing at a time. I'll let Fury know about this now." Steve added as he was waiting to be transferred to Fury's secure line.

When the team finally arrived back home they were all worn out and beaten up. Natasha more so than the others after her fight with Marina. They all went to their quarters to get cleaned up before dinner. Tony was planning on ordering a bunch of pizza for everyone.

Clint helped Natasha to her room with a protective arm around her back, helping to support her weight. He led her into her bathroom where he lifted her up onto the counter. He carefully removed her boots and examined her ankle, it was a little swollen and it was likely just a sprain. Before helping her with her uniform he looked at her questioningly, making sure she was okay with it and she gave him a silent nod. Carefully he lifted her off the counter and zipped down her suit, slowly peeling the skin tight clothing off her body. Leaning on Clint's shoulder, she stepped out of her uniform so that she was in just her underwear.

She felt quite vulnerable standing in front of Clint like that. Since their kiss things had been different between them. They hadn't yet talked about what it meant, but they knew they were no longer just friends and partners. It had been a rough day and she was mentally and physically drained, she longed for a hot shower and some sweat pants.

Sitting her back up on the counter, Clint wet a face cloth and began to clean the dried blood away from her face. The stitches that Sharon had applied were holding nicely and the bleeding had thankfully stopped, but she had a thumping headache. When he was finished he left her there and went to turn the shower on for her.

"You ok?" He asked as he came back to her.

"Sore, tired and I have a killer headache, but I'll live." She told him with a small smile.

"I'll go get you some pain killers while you take a shower." He said as he lifted her back off the counter again and headed for the door.

"Clint wait." She said as she grabbed a hold of his wrist causing him to turn back to her. On her face was written many different emotions. She looked relieved, vulnerable and sad all at the same time.

"What is it Tasha, do you need help?" He asked, referring to the underwear she was still wearing.

"No I just..." she trailed of as she placed a hand on his chest. "Can you..." she began as she started to unzip his uniform vest before sliding it off his shoulders and down his arms. Her fingers then went to the button of his pants, which she quickly undid. Then untucking his singlet she slid that up his body and over his head as he held his arms up willingly for her.

"Stay?" he asked, finishing her sentence for her as he stood before her in just his unbuttoned pants and boots. They had not seen each other fully naked yet, they were taking this thing slow. In any other situation Clint would jump her in a second. But after the day they had, he knew that she just needed to feel close to him. He had waited this long to be with her, waiting a little longer was easy. He was happy to just be able to provide her the comfort she needed.

"Yeah." She whispered as she ran her fingers along his muscled chest. Bending down he undid his boots and slipped them off, then he slipped his pants off too so that he stood there with her in just his boxer briefs.

Removing the remainder of their clothing he carefully helped her into the shower with him. There he helped her wash her hair and cleaned the remainder of the dry blood from around her neck and chest. When he was finished Natasha laid her head against his chest and sighed heavily.

"I'm here whenever you're ready to talk about it." He told her, knowing the events of the day were weighing on her.

"Thank you Clint." She replied as she placed a sweet kiss to his chest, just above his heart.

* * *

 _I hope you are all enjoying the story so far._


	11. A Little Rest

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 11

* * *

Bucky and Eva shared a shower together and were now in some comfortable clothing. Bucky wore a pair of black sweatpants and a grey tank top. Eva also wore sweatpants but was wearing a black tank top. All of the team were exhausted from the fight and had headed into the living where a huge stack of pizzas were waiting for them.

"Stark how many pizzas did you order?" Steve asked astonished as he surveyed the kitchen where the mountain of pizzas were as well as some desserts that Tony had ordered too.

"Well Pepper wanted a chicken and pepperoni pizza, I wanted a chicken, ham and pepperoni one. I ordered a pepperoni, chicken and jalapeño pizza for Eva while Bucky had a Brooklyn pizza, the same with you Cap. I know you two like a lot of meat on your pizza. While Natasha has a ham, jalapeño and red onion pizza, and Clint has his spicy Cajun pizza. Sharon has the red pepper, spicy ham and herb pizza. And I ordered a couple more pizzas with different things." Tony said casually. "Let's be honest Cap you look like you could eat a mountain of food to keep up with that body!" Tony laughed.

Eva looked amazed at what Tony had done and Bucky shook his head and chuckled. While Sharon looked amused at Tony's comment on Steve's physique. They all grabbed a pizza box and began tucking in.

Bucky could smell the herbs coming from Eva's pizza as she pulled off a slice and started eating. Bucky bit into a slice that had a lot of ham on it and groaned. "I forgot how food has changed for the better." Bucky commented amused, as Pepper turned on the TV and put on the news.

"Yeah, the food we ate sometimes was disgusting." Steve said remembering some of the god awful bland food they used to get given.

The team ate their food in a comfortable silence as they let the events of the day wash over them. Well except for Tony, who was blabbering on about some new technology that he was working on to Pepper, who just seemed to be nodding in agreement to all he was saying. Pretending as though she understood, even though she really didn't even know half of what he was saying.

"Hey guys, I just want to say something real quick." Steve began as he finished a fourth slice of pizza. "I don't want to talk too much about this, and I know we had a really rough day today, especially you Natasha. I think it's best if we take at least four or five days to recover from this one. There's no point running ourselves into the ground trying to stop HYDRA. The last thing we want is one of our own getting seriously hurt, or even worse." He said, not able to finish that sentence.

"I'm with you on that Cap." Clint said as he put a protective arm around Natasha. "Nat's got four cracked ribs, a sprained ankle, and a busted knee, not to mention the nasty cut to her head along with the concussion. She's gonna need time to heal before we go back out there."

"If Romanoff isn't ready by then, we could always go without..." Tony said before he was cut off by Natasha.

"No fucking way." She said as she gave him a death stare.

"Never mind." He said hurriedly as Clint gave him the same look.

"We are a team, and we do this as a team." Steve stated.

"I know. Sorry Romanoff, I didn't mean any offence. I just..." Tony said.

"I know Stark, you just want to get rid of HYDRA. I want the same thing, and I want to be a part of it."

"We won't go anywhere until Natasha is healed, right Steve?" Bucky said, as he was holding tightly onto Eva's hand.

"Right." He smiled at Natasha and she nodded in appreciation as she rested her head on Clint's shoulder.

"So HYDRA is building an android army from Vibranium?" Pepper asked dumbfounded and slightly shocked from what Tony and the rest of the team had told her earlier.

"Yep, and we fought some of them like five hours ago." Sharon said grimly. She did not like the vibes she was getting from thinking about what HYDRA's plans could be. They heard the phone ring and Sharon answered it, before putting Fury on the screen so he could talk to them.

"Well the person who stole the large amounts of Vibranium has been identified. Brock Rumlow, now going by the name of Crossbones." Fury said grimly, causing them to stare then while Eva and Pepper looked confused.

Bucky growled darkly.

"I remember him, he was there in the room when Pierce ordered the scientists to wipe my mind after I started remembering Steve and what Zola had done to me." Bucky said bitterly.

"Well he's back and pissed off. I suggest you get Sam Wilson to join you as this man is going after anyone who pissed him off. That means Rodgers, Wilson, Carter and Romanoff need to be kept safe." Fury said gravely.

"He sounds like an asshole." Eva commented as she laced her fingers with Bucky's, soothing him and calming his anger. He relaxed and kissed her gently on the cheek before he turned to the others.

"Trust me, he is. I've got the scar to prove it." Sharon said darkly as she held up her right wrist which had a faint scar on it from where Rumlow had slashed at her.

"That son of a bitch." Steve growled enraged.

"Language Captain!" Tony shouted loudly, mocking the way Steve always slips back into his 1940's self and scolds anyone who curses, which made everyone, including Fury laugh.

"I'll go get in touch with Sam." Steve said as he got up and left the room after Fury had ended the call.

"Great, looks like we have another player in the game." Clint said grimly.

"As if we didn't have enough to worry about with HYDRA, and that bitch Yelena is still in the wind. No doubt we will be seeing her soon after I killed her friend Marina." Natasha told the team.

"Things just got a whole lot more complicated." Eva agreed.

"Enough of work talk. How about some dessert!" Tony exclaimed, making everyone smile.

When everyone had got their dessert and settled in Tony put a movie up on the big screen for them all to watch. It was called Hummingbird, starring Jason Statham, which had all the ladies interest. They all sat together watching the movie with their respective partners enjoying their food and the company of their friends. They knew it wouldn't last forever, but for now, they were simply a group of close friends enjoying a movie night.

* * *

Bucky watched as Eva came out of the bathroom after getting herself ready for bed. She was dressed in a grey tank top and black sweatpants.

She got in and curled into his side with a sigh of relief. He held her close and buried his face in her neck. He loved this woman so much and if something happened to Eva... He'd be broken.

"I love you." He said quietly but meaningfully, cupping her cheek with his metal hand and felt her lean into his touch as she brushed the hair from his face tenderly.

"I love you too."

* * *

When the movie was over, Clint helped Natasha back to her room. She was still pretty sore, and really exhausted. He stopped by one of the training rooms on the way and grabbed some pain killers from the medical kit.

Helping her out of her clothes, he left her in just a tank top and her underwear to sleep in. As he helped her up onto her bed, he handed her a couple of pills and a bottle of water to wash them down with. "Need anything else?" he asked.

"Yeah." She said softly. "Stay with me?"

"If you're sure that's what you want." He said with a questioning look.

"I'm sure. I don't want to be alone tonight." She confessed.

"Fair enough" he replied as he removed his shirt and pants, climbing onto the bed with her in just his underwear. Settling in beneath the blankets Natasha rested her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. Clint absentmindedly brushed his fingers through her hair, it was soothing and helped her to relax. He felt the tension begin to leave her body as she slowly melted into him. She fit perfectly against his body and he couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't taken this leap earlier.

As the events of the day played through Natasha's mind, she couldn't stop the tears that escaped from her eyes. She had never felt this weak and vulnerable before, and she wasn't sure what it was that had her feeling that way. "You okay Tasha?" Clint whispered in the darkness as he felt her warm tears fall onto his muscular chest and he held her tighter.

"I don't know why things are getting to me like this, I feel so weak."

"You are anything but weak Nat, trust me. You took a beating today, but not once did you give up. You fought hard to protect your friends, to protect me. I'm sorry that you had to kill that girl, but we all know that it was the only way." He reassured her.

"It's not like I haven't killed before. It's my job, I've done it so many times… too many times. But something has changed inside of me Clint. I feel so much more now. In the Red Room, they trained us to be cold and calculated. They trained us not to feel any emotions. But now... I feel every little thing." She confessed.

"That's a good thing. Feeling means you're human. It means you're alive. It takes a stronger person to kill when they know they don't want to. It's not weakness you feel. It's remorse".

"I was so scared that Marina had killed you." she whispered as more tears fell from her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm okay. I'm here and I'm still in one piece" he said as he ran his hand up and down her back reassuringly. "But you know that I would die for you. I would lay down my life if it meant saving you." He said very seriously. "I love you Natasha... you know that right?" he admitted as he kissed her forehead. It was the first time he had said it out loud, and he was a little worried it would be too much for her.

"I do... and I love you too Clint." She replied placing a kiss on his chest.

"Get some rest Babe, you'll feel better in the morning I promise. I'm right here for you, I'm not going anywhere… ever." He said as he held her tight in his muscular arms. She snuggled in close to him, enjoying the safety of his embrace as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Bucky looked at Eva who was fast asleep in his arms, her chest rising and falling gently as it rained outside. The sky was dark through the curtains and he held her close. This woman meant so much to him, he really did love Eva, more than anything. But he had always been afraid that she would see him as the monster he really was, or at least the monster he believed himself to be, even if people tried to tell him it wasn't true. He was 'The Winter Soldier'. That will always be a part of him. She didn't care though, she still loved him, regardless of the things he had done, and he loved her.

He sat up a little with her still in his arms, looking at the bruises from the fight with HYDRA and he kissed her on the cheek tenderly before simply watching her sleep a while.

She stirred a little and woke then and smiled up at him, her blue eyes sleepy but alert as she looked up into his grey ones.

"What's keeping you awake?" She asked softly, stroking his stubbly right cheek causing him to lean into her touch with a sigh of contentment as he swallowed.

"That guy… Crossbones. He was there when I got my mind washed by Pierce, he was there in the room when I got beaten by Pierce." Bucky admitted and he felt Eva's anger almost radiating off her skin.

"You went through hell because of those bastards, I wish we could kill them all." Eva said angrily and Bucky looked at her. Seeing how angry and upset she was for him, it almost made him proud in a weird kind of way. It only proved to him more, how much she really cared for him.

He kissed her sweetly before cuddling back down and holding her tight.

* * *

As the next few days passed by the team tried to get as much rest as possible. Their troubles with HYDRA only seemed to be expanding as they discovered more and more people working with them. They knew they all had to be on top of their game if they were going to finish this.

Natasha and Clint were down in the armoury cleaning their weapons when Tony came sauntering in. "Hey Romanoff, I got something for you. Wanna come down to my lab?"

"Sure thing, Tony." She replied as she got up with a little help from Clint and limped to the elevator. Because of the Red Room experiments done to her, she healed at an above average rate. Her sprained ankle was back to normal but her busted knee was giving her grief. Sharon said she may have torn her Anterior Cruciate Ligament when Marina kicked her hard in the knee causing it to hyper extend. Even with her heightened healing powers and rehabilitation sessions with Sharon, it was going to take a while to fully heal.

As they arrived down in Tony's lab he presented her with what looked like a brace of some sort, made out of a very strong but flexible material she had never seen before. "What is this?" she asked a little confused.

"That my dear, is a knee brace, made especially for you out of a material that Jarvis and I created. It is extremely strong and flexible. It will allow you to move your knee in any which way you desire with your crazy gymnastics fighting style, while providing extra support and helping to heal your ACL faster. It's very lightweight and thin so you will barely even know it's there, meaning you could wear it all day long if you wanted to" Tony smiled.

"Wow Tony... I don't know what to say... Thank you" she said a little stunned at his kindness. It wasn't often Tony did things for other people. He was a genius, but he was a slightly self-centred egotistical genius.

"My pleasure. The team wouldn't be the team without you with us." He stated simply.

Without a second thought Natasha threw her arms around him and gave him a hug.

"Woah... what... is this a _thing_ with her now?" He asked Clint, looking a little confused that the once cold and calculated badass assassin just gave him a hug.

Clint just gave him a nod and smiled. "Thanks man." He said as he gave him a clap on the back. Effortlessly Clint lifted Natasha up onto one of Stark's benches and rolled up the leg of her sweatpants. He slid the brace up her smooth leg and positioned it around her knee, making sure it was strapped up just tight enough. "Give it a go." He smiled as he lifted her back down to the floor.

Natasha did a lap of the room, walking with ease and without any pain or discomfort. "Tony this is amazing!" she exclaimed, before breaking into a full sprint down the hallway, stopping abruptly on her bad leg and then sprinting back. "Wow! I can't feel any pain at all." She smiled. It was the first real smile Clint had seen since she got injured, and he relished every second of it.

* * *

Eva was relaxing on the sofa as they all needed time to recover from the fight, both physically and mentally. She was reading a book while Bucky sat next to her, watching the news in a comfortable silence. His arm was wrapped around her close and she leaned into him smiling. After a while she decided to cook them all brunch, as they were all getting pretty hungry and she headed into kitchen.

Bucky watched her quietly as she began cooking and baking some recipes from her memory. He remembered his mother used to make him and his four younger siblings breakfast or treat them to homemade chocolate chip cookies that he'd always share with Steve.

"What are we making?" Bucky asked curiously as he watched her get up a cooking site on her IPad. He approached her and glanced at the screen to see a recipe for Oladi pancakes.

"Oh my god, is that what I think it is?" Natasha called out excitedly as Bucky read out the name. Bucky laughed at Natasha's excitement, and the rest of the team came in then looking curious.

"Oladi pancakes is one of my favourite foods. I might cook some Ukraine food too, as my mother taught me how. As well as Russian food, not to mention Polish food too." Eva admitted as Bucky began to help her.

"So your mom was Ukrainian?" Tony asked curiously, Eva nodded as she stirred the mixture quietly.

"Yes...she...was. My maternal Grandparents were Jewish and lived in Kiev but during the war, half of my maternal family were killed by Nazis. My Mother's aunt, her husband and three eldest children were killed in the Babi Yar Massacre. My Father didn't have it much better, his eldest brother died in the Riga Massacre. So...my family have a very painful history with the war." Eva said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Eva." Steve said quietly, he'd witnessed the concentration camps himself and he knew that Bucky had experienced what it was like. He was a POW.

Eva shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "Don't be, they're happier where they are now."

"How old were the two of you when you were recruited by the Red Room?" Sharon asked quietly, she knew Eva and Natasha had been young when they'd joined.

"I was only seven years old." Natasha said quietly.

"I was eleven years old. Sometimes I think my parents would be ashamed of me." Eva said grimly.

"Being in the Red Room was never your choice Eva. It was never anyone's choice. Your parents would be so proud of the brave young woman you are today. Fighting for a country you have adopted as your own. Fighting for the memories of your loved ones. Don't ever doubt that." Bucky told her as he placed a sweet kiss to the side of her head and continued to help her cook.

"Bucky's right. You girls are amazing. To go through what you have, and come out of it so strong and courageous. That's definitely something to be proud of." Steve told them.

"I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a fight with you." Tony laughed. "Either of you. Chicks are scary enough when they're mad… no offence Pep." he quickly added as he smiled at his girlfriend. "Throw some crazy Red Room training and Cirque De Soleil type moves in there and that's just down right terrifying." He said making everyone laugh.

"Oh this smells amazing!" Pepper exclaimed at one of the dishes Eva had prepared with assistance from Bucky.

As they finished up cooking Eva laid all the food out on the kitchen counter along with a stack of plates for everyone. They each grabbed a plate and loaded it up with food before sitting down in the living room to eat and talk together. They were like one big family, and Eva was finally starting to feel like she had a home again.

"Oh my god Eva, this is delicious." Natasha grinned as she swallowed down a mouthful of food.

"So good." Clint added.

"You can cook for us anytime." Steve smiled.

Eva couldn't think of a better bunch of people to live with. She was happier than she had been since her parents passed away. She almost felt normal again.

"What the hell are these cookies? They're delicious?" Tony exclaimed through a mouthful of cookie and Eva smirked at the man in amusement.

"Pyraniki, Russian honey spiced cookies and save some for Sam, Steve he's coming to stay with us." Eva said sternly to him as they all enjoyed the brunch when Sam Wilson came in.

"Hey Sam." Steve said warmly as he stood up and gave him a quick manly hug and Sam grinned at him as he was offered a plate and helped himself to some Oladi pancakes and sausages.

"Hey guys, so what's going on?" Sam asked everyone curiously as he noticed Bucky and Eva sitting together on the sofa.

"Well, we think HYDRA may have gotten their hands on nuclear weapons, and some alien weapons that they stole from SHIELD and a sceptre that can control people." Steve explained gravely. Sam looked horrified.

"Jesus, is that why Crossbones is in on it?" He asked cautiously as Eva served out some Grenki toast and smiled.

"Yeah, we think they're building an android army to attack SHIELD, and maybe the whole of America." Sharon said grimly and Sam looked dumbfounded.

"This sounds like Terminator." He said finally.

"Oh trust me, I feel like a Terminator I literally have some metal bones and freaky powers." Eva said laughed, but in a way still being serious.

"I get that reference!" Steve exclaimed, having finally watched the Terminator movies with Sharon a few weeks back, and everyone laughed at the Captain.

* * *

 _Enjoy and review._


	12. The Threat

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 12

* * *

After a couple more days the team sat down together and made a plan to hit the fourth out of the five HYDRA bases. This one was the last of them located in Germany. Tony put up surveillance pictures on the screen of a small base a few kilometres outside of Stuttgart, Germany.

"As you can see from these aerials that Hill has kindly gathered for us, this base is not too heavily guarded, personnel wise that is. From what we can tell, these four towers around the outside of the base house large cannons of some sort. If I had to hazard a guess, my money would be on ex-shield technology." Tony told the team.

"We could be dealing with alien tech here people, so we have to be careful. We need to take these towers out first. Bucky, I want you to take out the guard in the east tower with your sniper rifle. Clint, you take the guard on the west tower. Tony and Sam, I want you guys to fly in and take out the other two. We want to do this all at the same time so none of them have a chance to fire off a shot knocking either Tony or Sam out of the sky." Steve said grimly.

"No problem." Clint replied, and the other three nodded in agreement.

"Natasha, Sharon, Eva and myself will be on the ground while this is being done. Eva and I will come in from the east, while Natasha and Sharon will come in from the west side of the base. Each team will meet up with either sniper on their side before proceeding into the base. Tony and Sam, once the tower guards are down I want you guys to disable the cannons and clear any more HYDRA soldiers around the perimeter. When that's done, team up and come in from the north entrance." Steve continued to say.

"Got it." Sam replied.

"Once inside, each team makes their way through the base, as we have done previously, take out any HYDRA personnel and collect any intel you can. From what Fury and Hill have told me they don't think we will find much here in the way of the missing nukes. Their money is on the final HYDRA base in Washington. Rendezvous at the south of the base when the building is cleared. Does everyone understand the mission?" Steve asked the team and they all nodded in agreement.

"Great, we leave in an hour. Grab your gear and suit up."

Everyone nodded grabbed their guns and other weapons from the armoury and changed into their uniforms. Eva saw that Tony had done something to her suit, it now had dark purple piping and was glowing. It was somehow in tune to her body as it glowed brighter when she used her powers. She made a note to thank Tony for upgrading her suit. The team met at the quinjet ready for their mission.

* * *

Bucky and Clint took out the guards in their allocated towers and then made their way down to meet up with each of their teams. Steve and Bucky began taking out soldiers while Eva protected them using her powers on any soldiers who were coming from behind them.

Eva punched one man in the face before shooting him in the head with her Colt Python and looked around to find their area was now clear.

"The east side of the base is cleared." Steve reported to the rest of the team as they made their way over to the west side where they met up with Natasha, Sharon and Clint who had just finished clearing their area. They made their way to the rendezvous point outside on the south side of the base and waited for Sam and Tony to come in from the north when something was fired at them, burning down a tree in the process.

Eva threw up her shield, covering her and Natasha, while the others took cover behind a stone wall, as they saw a man firing a large cannon like gun at them. As more red beams blasted in their direction, Eva used her powers and redirected them at some of the other soldiers who were coming down from the hills. Natasha kicked one man in the chest, before breaking his neck while Clint fired arrows at a few more. Bucky, Steve and Sharon fought hand to hand with more of the soldiers when Tony and Sam came flying in to join the fight.

Eva let go of her mental shield and blasted some of the soldiers with a psionic hex bolt, causing the sky to darken for a moment as a bolt of dark purple energy hit the group of soldiers surrounding Natasha, blasting them away, and knocking them out.

"Thanks, Eva." Natasha said gratefully and Eva nodded at her as they made their way into what looked like a small storage facility on the edge of the base. They took out more soldiers as they entered and they came across what looked like a morgue...

There were children's bodies on the tables, Eva checked for a pulse but couldn't find any of them still alive as they surveyed the horrific scene. Some of these children looked to be only six years old, the oldest couldn't have been any older than nine.

"Steve, we found what looks like a morgue. Looks like HYDRA was experimenting with something on these children." Natasha said through her comms as she waited for the rest of the team to join them.

Eva looked at the young girl and brushed some hair from her face. She noticed that her skin was still slightly warm and sighed heavily. The young girl must have only died a few hours ago. The whole thing was making her think back to when Malia had died, and she hated thinking back to that because she would get upset and infuriated at the psychotic bitch Yelena, and only want to make her pay even more.

The rest of the team made their way to the make shift morgue when the perimeter had been cleared. They were all horrified at the sight before them. Who could do such horrible things to innocent young children? No doubt they were Red Room orphans, just like Natasha and Eva had been.

"No nuclear weapons here, I'm guessing HYDRA moved them." Bucky said grimly.

"Clearly HYDRA are trying to perfect their experiments though." Eva said, as she looked around the morgue full of bodies.

"Unfortunately we are too late to help any of these kids, but I guess the only upside is, if they are dead HYDRA haven't succeeded with what they were attempting to do yet." Natasha added.

The team made their way back outside and had a quick debrief of what they had found, or more to the point what they hadn't found... the nuclear weapons and Yelena. Evidence of more experiments was very concerning, with the threat of an enhanced Yelena Belkova looming over their heads, the last thing they wanted was to be fighting more of HYDRA's experiments.

"We have one more base to hit, it would appear that Washington is HYDRA's main base of operations, I'm confident that we will find the nukes there." Steve told the team as a SHIELD quinjet landed nearby and Agents began to sweep the area, gathering anything of use and setting charges to blow the base so HYDRA couldn't come back to it.

The team returned to their jet, and Clint and Natasha got it ready for take-off. The team sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence as they all mulled over the events of the mission, and what it meant for their next one.

The team were all troubled by what HYDRA were planning with the nuclear weapons and the alien weapons. Not to mention the android robots that they had fought and then there was Yelena to deal with as well. Things were getting very complicated for the Avengers.

* * *

Bucky sighed grimly and stepped out of the shower. As he walked into the bedroom he saw Eva was practising her powers once again, her eyes were glowing purple and she had wooden blocks floating in the air gracefully before breaking them into pieces. He knew Eva was worried that she might lose control of her powers, which was why she practised and trained so hard.

He sat down next to her. "How long have you been doing this, doll?" He asked quietly, seeing how tired and mentally drained she looked.

"A few hours, James...I just keep on worrying about what my powers can do to you, the others and innocent people. I don't want to hurt anyone." Eva confessed worriedly.

Bucky cupped her face in his hands tenderly.

"I know you won't hurt anyone Eva, I trust you."

* * *

Clint wandered in to Natasha's room to find her doing crunches on the floor. He sat down on her bed and waited for her to finish. "How are you feeling?" he asked as she stood up and took a long drink from her bottle of water.

"Great." She replied with a smile. "Everything has healed nicely, except my knee, but the brace Tony made me has been working wonders for it."

"I'm glad you're on the mend."

"Everything okay Clint? You seem... different."

"I'm good Nat, I've just been thinking a lot is all." He replied.

"About?" she probed.

"You... Me... Us I guess." he said a little vaguely.

"Ok...?" Natasha said, a little worried that he was having second thoughts about their 'thing' before it had really even begun.

"We've been dancing around this for a while now, and I think it's time we did things right" he said a bit nervously.

"What are you saying Clint?"

"I want to take you on a date Tasha."

"A date?"

"Yeah... if this is still what you want?"

"It is, and I'd like that."

"Great, I have the perfect plan... how about tonight?" he asked.

"Sounds great... what should I wear? Casual... formal? In between?"

"Both. You will want to be able to move around easily for what I have planned. But you will want to dress up for dinner afterwards. We'll have time to change." he told her while still being vague about his plan.

"You have me very intrigued." she smiled.

"That's a good thing. We'll head out at 3pm." he smiled before giving her a quick kiss and leaving the room.

Natasha smiled at that and grabbed some comfortable cargo pants and a black t - shirt and took a hot shower before she changed for the date. On her way out she grabbed a beautiful black dress, smiling at how excited and happy she was to be going on a date with Clint. She was going to enjoy this. It was actually her first real date.

* * *

Eva laughed quietly as she saw Bucky had gotten flour on his face as they were making dinner for the rest of the team.

"What are you making, pchelka?" Bucky asked curiously as he looked over to see Eva cooking some type of meatballs and the smell was intoxicating to his stomach.

"Tefteli, Russian Meatballs and for dessert, Russian Honey Comb Cake for all us." Eva said proudly as she let the food cook and showed Bucky the cake that was baking in the oven. It smelt so good.

"That looks delicious, Eva." Bucky said amazed at his girlfriend's cooking skills.

When Eva finished serving up the dinner onto plates for everyone Bucky gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Thanks babe." He whispered as he took the plate she handed to him. The rest of the team made their way to the kitchen and took a plate each, thanking Eva for making them dinner. Sitting down in the living room they all ate their food in a comfortable silence while they watched the news.

That was until Tony piped up. "So I'm betting a hundred bucks our favourite spy/assassin duo won't even make it to their dinner before they finally cave and do the horizontal mambo." He laughed.

"The horizontal mambo Tony? Really?" Bucky laughed.

"We're not betting on our friends... doing you know." Steve scolded.

"Oh c'mon Cap, don't be such a prude!" Tony laughed. "We're all adults here... we've all done it... Unless... Someone here hasn't?" Tony questioned giving Steve the side eye.

"Hey we are talking about Clint and Natasha here, not me!" Steve laughed while turning a bright shade of red when his virginity came into question, which earned a small giggle from Sharon who was sitting next to him.

"I got fifty bucks says they only make it halfway through dinner before they leave to do the 'horizontal mambo' as Tony likes to call it." Sam added in as he pulled out his wallet.

"Fine!" Steve said as he caved to their silly game. "I'll bet a hundred that they don't go that far tonight. Clint's a gentleman." he told them.

"Bucky? Eva? You guys want in on this?" Tony asked the couple.

They looked at one another and smiled. "Fifty says they make it through the date, but get carried away in the elevator on the way back to one of their rooms." Bucky chuckled.

"The elevator... really? Please god, don't let them defile my elevator." Tony begged.

"I'm not betting." Eva said amused as she tucked into her meal, while Bucky sat next to her and ate his, a smile on his face as he sat beside the woman he loved.

"Alright, all bets are in. Let's see who comes out on top." Tony said stifling a laugh.

* * *

For their date, Clint took Natasha to a paintball arena. There they had a few rounds of one on one, in which they were pretty evenly matched. They wore protective gear so they didn't get too bruised up during the game. By the end of it Natasha had beat Clint two rounds to one. It was a great chance to forget about everything that was going on, let loose and have some fun. Natasha couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much. Even though the two of them were quite competitive, it was still a lot of fun.

After having a quick shower in the changing rooms and putting on their nice clothes, Clint drove them to one of his favourite restaurants. It was a nice little Indian place, he told her they did the best curries in the city. They were shown to their table and they sat down and looked over the menu.

"It all sounds so good, I can't decide." Natasha told Clint.

"Trust me, everything here is amazing. How about we get a few different things and share them? That way you can try more than just one dish." he smiled.

"Perfect. I like the sound of the Seekh Kebab." she said as she pointed to the picture of the lamb skewers.

"I'm thinking... the Chicken Bharta." Clint suggested, and Natasha nodded in agreement.

"And how about the platter of vegetarian selection?"

"Sounds great." Clint said as he flagged down the waiter. He relayed their order to the man and included a plate of Naan bread and some drinks.

Their drinks arrived quickly and they made comfortable small talk while they waited for the food.

"I'm so glad were doing this." Clint told her.

"Me too. I think we've both waited long enough." She smiled.

"I know right." he laughed. "God, I thought I would never get the courage to finally stop lying to myself and tell you how I felt. We had been friends and partners for so long, and I didn't want to mess that up".

"I guess we just needed a push in the right direction."

The food arrived and they started to tuck in. Natasha groaned in appreciation as she savoured something from the vegetarian platter. "Oh my god Clint, you have to try one of these... they are amazing!" she said as she grabbed another samosa and dipped it into one of the chutneys before lifting it up to Clint's lips. He opened his mouth and she popped the piece of food in, letting her hand linger a bit as he sucked a bit of the chutney off the tip of her finger, making her smile.

"That is delicious." He agreed as he swallowed it down, staring intently into her eyes with his piercing blue ones. They continued to share the food until they had finished it all.

"They have a good dessert menu if you want something else." He told her.

"I got a better idea." Natasha replied as she leaned in a planted a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Yeah... I think I like your idea better." Clint chuckled as he kissed her back, a little more deeply this time. She ran the tip of her tongue ever so softly over his bottom lip, igniting a burning desire within him, and all he could think about was getting her back home. He flagged down the waiter and paid for their meal before escorting her back to the car. As he drove back to the tower he held her hand in his, rubbing his thumb on her soft skin. He loved touching her, even in the most innocent and affectionate of ways. Now that he had her he never wanted to let her go.

The short drive seemed to take forever and he was glad when they finally reached their destination. As they jumped into the elevator, before the doors even had a chance to close he was on her in a flash. His lips devoured hers hungrily and she moaned into his kiss. "Jesus Tasha." He whispered as she pressed her body up against his.

"Has the elevator always been this slow?" she laughed as she started to undo the top few buttons of Clint's shirt. Pushing her up against the wall he kissed her neck hungrily making her giggle as the ding of the elevator signalled they had reached their floor and the doors were opened.

* * *

The rest of the team were quietly watching a movie when they heard the elevator ping, followed by the sound of Natasha's giggling and got up to investigate. They froze at what awaited them.

Clint and Natasha were literally making out in the elevator, before staggering out into the hallway where Natasha pushed Clint against the wall and kissed him passionately. They knew that the team were standing there staring at them, they could sense it. After all they were highly trained spies, but they didn't care. Without even looking at the rest of their teammates Clint picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, before carrying her to his room down the far end of the hallway, kicking the door shut behind him as everyone stared in a stunned silence.

"Looks like Bucky won, folks." Sam said with a laugh, giving Bucky his money as a shell shocked Steve and Tony handed over their money to Bucky too.

"Barnes… I'm curious as to how you knew about the elevator. You two better not have gotten up to anything in there." Tony said warningly to him and Eva.

Bucky smirked while Eva smiled sweetly, but there was a look of amusement in her eyes. They had gotten carried away and Bucky had ended up being given a special gift by Eva, when she pulled the emergency stop button.

Bucky held Eva tightly to him and watched as she drew the curtains over with her telepathy so they could have privacy. He smiled at her before running his hands through her long wavy blonde hair.

"I'm so glad I found you, Eva." Bucky said quietly and Eva smiled at him then before she kissed him tenderly.

"I'm happy that I met you too, James. You're everything to me, along with the rest of the team." Eva said honestly and rested her forehead against his tenderly.

Bucky then nuzzled her neck, his stubble tickling her and she laughed as felt his hands on her toned hips.

"When this is over, I'm gonna take you out dancing." Bucky promised and Eva laughed softly.

"I'd like that, Jamie."

* * *

Clint was glad to finally be alone with Natasha. He backed up to the bed and sat down with her in his lap as he kissed her passionately. Reaching behind her. He undid the zip on her gorgeous black dress, sliding the straps off of her shoulders and down her arms, revealing her black lace bra beneath.

She continued what she had begun in the elevator and undid the rest of the buttons on Clint's shirt, almost tearing the garment from his body in haste to undress him. "Woah... someone's eager." Clint chuckled.

"I've waited long enough." She smiled a little seductively.

He stood up and lowered her down to the ground before sliding her dress the rest of the way down her body, letting it pool on the floor. There she stood before him in nothing but her matching lace underwear. Trailing his hands up her thighs, over her hips and towards her tight stomach, he stopped at the scar just above her left hip. He had seen it before, but he hadn't asked her about it.

"How'd you get this?" He questioned as he stroked it gently with his thumb.

"The winter soldier... Bucky. Five years ago." She told him.

"What!?" Clint said infuriated.

"It's ok Clint, it was a long time ago and Bucky wasn't himself. We've talked about it, he doesn't really remember, but I have forgiven him, we've moved past it." She assured him.

"Still... doesn't make me want to punch him in the face for it any less." Clint said as he knelt down and placed a sweet kiss on her scar, before standing up and kissing her tenderly.

Her hands went to the button of his jeans, which she quickly undid along with the zipper. She pushed his pants down his legs and he stepped out of them. The sight of him standing there in nothing but his underwear had Natasha instantly wet. Sure they had seen each other naked before, but not like this. Not in such an intimate and sexual way. Carefully he unclasped her bra, tossing it aside as he marvelled in her beauty. He made short work of removing her panties, and she followed suit by removing his underwear too. Pulling her body close to his, Clint kissed her deeply, pouring all his emotions and feelings into the kiss. He lifted her onto him and lay her down on his bed gently.

"Are you sure about this?" He whispered.

"Never been surer about anything." she said with a smiled as she caressed his muscular arms.

He lined himself up with her, and kissed her passionately as he slowly entered her, swallowing down her gasps of shock and pleasure. When he was fully buried inside of her he stilled for a moment, allowing her to adjust to him. "You okay?" He asked softly.

"I'm good." She assured him. "Been a while." She said a little shyly.

"Same." He chuckled, not wanting to move because already being inside of her was feeling too damn good. "You're so beautiful Tasha." He whispered as he kissed her softly, his tongue darting out to lick her top lip gently. When he felt her grind against him he started a slow pace, gently thrusting into her. Her moans of pleasure letting him know that she was feeling good.

As they got used to the feel of one another after a few minutes, he increased his tempo. He devoured her lips with passionate kisses as he relished in the soft moans she was making. "I love you Tasha" he said as he looked into her beautiful eyes while he thrust into her deeply.

"I love you too Clint." she replied with a smile before letting out another involuntary moan of pleasure.

After a few more minutes, Natasha was getting dangerously close to the edge of orgasm, and Clint could tell by the way she began to tighten around him as her body started to quiver. "You gonna come for me, babe." He smiled as he showered her neck with kisses, keeping a steading rhythm.

She struggled to find the words to reply to him, instead she let out another moan, a little louder this time to indicate she was close. Threading her hands through his hair she pulled his face to hers and kissed him with a fiery passion. "Harder." She whispered seductively in his ear.

"Yes Ma'am." He chuckled as he thrust harder and deeper into her.

"Shit... Clint." She gasped as her body began to shudder uncontrollably.

Natasha began to scream as the waves of her orgasm rolled over her, and Clint kissed her hungrily silencing her loud screams of pleasure. With a few more hard thrusts he followed right behind her as he buried himself deep within her. Collapsing on top of her, the both of them panting ad sweaty, he placed gentle kisses on her neck and shoulder.

"Why the hell did we not do that sooner?" Natasha whispered with a giggle.

"Beats me... but I don't ever want to stop doing that." Clint laughed in response as he pulled out of her, rolling over and pulling her into his chest for a cuddle.

"Me either." She smiled, as she ran her finger tips up and down his torso.

"You're amazing." He told her.

"I could say the same about you. No one has ever made me feel that good." She blushed.

"You haven't seen anything yet babe. Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready for round two. I want to make you feel so good you'll be screaming my name at the top of your lungs." He chuckled as he kissed her passionately and held her tight against him.

* * *

 _We hope everyone enjoyed the Clintasha in this chapter._


	13. The Haunted

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by HYDRA where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 13

* * *

Eva had woken up late and saw it was already nine AM and decided to cook breakfast before hitting the gym so she could keep up with her training and controlling her powers. She made some black bread with blueberries inside the dough as she sang a song in Russian softly for a while, when she sensed Bucky enter the room. He wrapped his arms around her waist, placing a soft kiss to the back of her neck, causing her to shudder at his touch on her warm skin as she turned around to face him.

"Morning, lover." Eva greeted playfully, causing Bucky to smile as he rested his forehead against hers for a minute before kissing her, pouring all the emotion he had into the kiss. Eva moaned as she wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Morning, pchelka." Bucky greeted huskily as he placed kisses to the front of her throat with a growl as he took in her appearance. She was wearing a dark purple tank top and grey yoga pants and he thought she looked perfect.

"Someone's keen." Eva whispered teasingly as she slid her hands under his t - shirt then, causing him to growl once more.

"Keep it in your pants guys." Tony groaned as he entered the room and covered his eyes with his hands dramatically.

"Sorry Tony." Eva laughed as she removed her hands from beneath Bucky's shirt.

"What smells good?" He asked intrigued.

"I'm baking some blueberry filled black bread." Eva said with a smile.

"Is there anything your girlfriend can't do?" He asked Bucky with a clap on the back. "She's a keeper, isn't she Pep." He said to his partner as she entered the room and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"She sure is." Bucky agreed. "And I'm yet to find anything she can't do." He laughed.

"Sure you're not a robot?" Tony joked as he eyed her wearily.

"Well my legs are metal." Eva chuckled, enjoying her teammate's sense of humour.

"Those two love birds not up yet?" Tony asked, wondering where Natasha and Clint were, they were usually the first ones out of bed in the morning out of the whole team. "I don't blame them, they were probably up all night long." He laughed.

"Tony!" Pepper scolded as she smacked him lightly on the chest. "Leave them alone... they're in love. It's sweet." She gushed happily.

"Maybe they could be in a love a little quieter." He chuckled.

"Sorry about that." Clint laughed as he entered the room. He thought he would be embarrassed, but frankly he didn't really care. He and Natasha were happy, and he didn't care if the whole world knew it.

"Clint... my man!" Tony cheered holding his hand up for a high five.

Not to leave him hanging, Clint slapped his hand with a loud clap and laughed at his friend. He was like a frat boy sometimes.

"So I take it your date went well..." Tony probed.

"Tony Stark!" Pepper scolded once more. "That is none of our business. Leave him alone!" she laughed a little embarrassed by her boyfriend's lack of respect for others private lives.

"It went very well..." Clint said calmly as he walked into the kitchen and before anyone knew what was happening, Clint had punched Bucky right in the face as just Steve and Natasha entered.

"What the hell, Clint?!" Eva screamed angrily as she created a purple shield to protect Bucky from Clint, as he gathered himself and touched his nose gently and found it wasn't broken.

"That was for shooting Natasha." Clint said coolly as he regarded his teammate who looked away in shame and regret. Bucky looked around to see everyone staring at the exchange and he quickly walked out of the kitchen, grabbed his jacket and left.

"Bucky wait!" Steve called out quickly but Bucky was gone.

Eva hurried after Bucky, but not before slapping Clint hard across the face on her way past. She rushed out of the building after Bucky who was clearly ashamed of his past with HYDRA.

* * *

Bucky found himself sitting down at a bench in a park, observing the area silently with his grey eyes, and he looked at his metal hand then in complete loathing. _'This will always remind me of who I am, the Winter Soldier...a slave, assassin and a merciless killer.'_ Bucky thought bitterly as he saw Eva walking towards him.

"James?" She asked softly, but Bucky said nothing. So she sat down next to him and took both his hands in hers. "Don't push me away, Jamie. Please, I'm not letting you walk away from this...from all of us." Eva implored firmly.

Bucky laughed bitterly.

"Clint doesn't trust me, Eva. Hell who can blame him? I shot the woman he loved twice." Bucky said angrily. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole team hated me now."

"That wasn't you though James... not really. You had no memory and you had no idea what you were doing. You just did whatever they manipulated you into doing. It's not your fault and I know you would never intentionally hurt Natasha, and I think Clint knows that too. He was probably just angry about the past, finding out for the first time and lashed out, you would do the same for me if the roles were reversed, and I would for you too." She told him softly.

"I know. I deserved that punch in the face... and so much more." He said as he hung his head.

"No you don't Bucky. Clint was upset, but he was still out of line. He shouldn't have hit you and I bet he doesn't feel any better about what happened to Natasha having done it. We should go back and talk to him about it."

"I wouldn't know what to say. I mean Natasha and I have gotten past it, but I don't know how to make Clint understand that I never wanted to hurt her, I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"You're a good man James, he knows that deep down, and I'm sure. Now that he has got it out of his system, he will have calmed down. We need to settle this, we can't let it hang over the team. We need to trust each other and have each other's backs for what's about to come."

"You're right Eva. Let's go back. I think I have some explaining to do." He said as he held her hand in his metal one and they walked back to the tower together.

* * *

"You didn't need to do that." Natasha scolded Clint.

"I know babe, I'm sorry. I don't even know where that came from, I just got so mad about the fact that he shot you, and when I saw him I just snapped. I feel really bad about it though. I know it wasn't his fault and he wasn't himself."

"It's sweet that you care that he hurt me, but it's in the past. He and I settled it, I told you that."

"I know, I let my anger get the better of me."

"You have to apologise to him."

"I will babe, I promise." He said as he pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead in front of the rest of the team who were still standing there shocked about everything that happened. Steve knew that Bucky had shot her, but he never expected Clint to react the way he did. It took everything he had not to jump in to defend Bucky and punch Clint right back.

"Wow! So... that just happened." Tony said, still trying to process everything.

"Tony..." Natasha warned. He knew better than to piss off the red headed Russian so he kept his mouth shut.

Everyone went back to having some breakfast and ten minutes later Bucky and Eva returned. Immediately Clint got up out of his chair and headed towards Bucky. Eva quickly got in between the two men and held her hands out towards Clint as they started to glow purple. "Back off Clint." She warned.

"It's ok." He said as he held his hands up in surrender. "I want to apologise. That was a total dick move and I'm really sorry Bucky. I just got so pissed that you... well not you, The Winter Soldier version of you had hurt Natasha and I lashed out. I'm so sorry man." He said as he held out his hand for Bucky to shake.

Gladly Bucky grabbed it with his metal hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'm sorry too. There are so many things that I regret. So many bad things I did as The Winter Soldier and I wish I could take them all back, but I can't. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I'm sorry for what I did to Natasha".

"We good?" Clint asked quietly.

"Yeah man. We're good." Bucky smiled.

"Keep a hold of this girl." He said as he nodded to Eva. "She's got a mean slap when she's on the defensive." He laughed.

"You slapped him?" Bucky asked, and Eva nodded quietly.

"I'm sorry I slapped you Clint." Eva apologised.

"Don't worry about it. I deserved it. I was an ass for hitting Bucky."

"Now that all is forgiven, how about we finish breakfast huh?" Natasha said as she snaked an arm around Clint's waist and smiled sweetly at the other couple.

They nodded and finished having the black bread, as well as some waffles that Sharon had made. They had a very long day ahead of them and they all needed to make sure they had plenty of fuel.

* * *

"Alright, so we're heading to Washington tonight. Fury and Maria found a HYDRA sleeper agent by the name of Victor Hesse who lives in Washington DC. We can't go yet though, Home Secretary Thaddeus Ross is coming over in an hour to talk with us." Steve said warningly.

"What does he want to talk with us for?" Bucky asked suspiciously, for some reason he felt like he had met this man before but he couldn't remember and he cursed HYDRA for wiping his memories. Something about him seemed so familiar but he couldn't quite place it.

"I'm not sure but we know how he is towards enhanced people, I heard from Fury that Ross wants to detain anyone who has special abilities." Steve admitted.

"Sir, Thaddeus Ross is here with Everett Ross of Homeland Security." Jarvis informed Tony, and Tony told him to allow them access to the elevator. Moments later the two men wandered into the living area looking all high and mighty.

"We have a few questions for your friends, Captain America." Thaddeus Ross stated calmly.

Eva took the opportunity to delve into his mind and his thoughts were unpleasant to say the least. He didn't like any of them and he thought she and Bucky should be killed for what they were, Natasha too. He knew all about their enhancements.

"Go right ahead, we have nothing to hide." Natasha spoke up bravely.

"Oh we know Miss Romanoff. We know all about you and the rest of this team, thanks to all the information you uploaded to the internet in order to expose HYDRA. In doing so you exposed everyone any anyone ever affiliated with SHEILD and its members."

"What do you want from us?" Bucky asked wearily.

"We want you to turn yourselves in. Submit to tests so we can understand your enhancements, and figure out a way to reverse them." Ross said bluntly.

"You want to reverse what was done to us?" Natasha questioned, a little concerned.

"You can't fix what isn't broken." Bucky growled. "There's nothing _wrong_ with us." He continued as he put a protective arm in front of Eva. "We're not going anywhere with you, and we certainly aren't being tested and experimented on. We have had enough of that to last a lifetime."

"Mr Barnes, you don't have a choice. If you do not submit yourself, you will be branded an enemy of the United States. You will be hunted and you will be killed."

"Wait just a minute!" Steve said angrily. "You can't do this. This team is helping to save this country. In the last month we have taken down four of the five HYDRA bases, and we are preparing to take out the final one now. We are not your enemy."

"Rogers, don't think that you aren't in the same boat as the rest of them. You are a laboratory experiment. You are enhanced, and you can't be left to run rampant." Ross growled.

By this time the team was getting very angry and agitated. After all they had done for their country, America wanted to lock them in a cage, and experiment on them like lab rats. They were just as bad as HYDRA.

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there Ross." Came the voice of Nick Fury as he stepped off the elevator. "You cannot detain my team, this is a matter of national security."

"On behalf of the United States Military, I have the right to detain enemies to our country!" Ross demanded.

"Well, on behalf of the President of The United States of America, I have here in my hand, full presidential pardons here for every member of this team. The President has acknowledged all the good these people have done. They have risked their lives to save everyone in this country. Including you and everyone you know and love. These people are NOT the enemy. HYDRA is. Now if you would kindly get off your damn high horse and get the hell out so we can get on with our jobs and save this country. Hell save the world even." Fury told him angrily.

"I'll be speaking to the President!" Ross shouted as he stormed off to the elevator and left.

"You do that!" Fury called after him.

"We really have pardons?... All of us?" Eva asked stunned.

"Yes Miss Nikolayev, all of you. And for you... there is also this." He said as he handed her a piece of paper.

She looked it over and a huge smile spread across her face and tears welled up in her eyes.

"What is it Eva?" Bucky asked concerned.

"Citizenship papers. America is now officially my home." She smiled, and the rest of the team smiled with her.

"You're officially an American Citizen Eva, and when this is all over...I suggest that we take you on a tour of America. Maybe Barnes will even take you on a fancy romantic cruise and you two can re-enact the car scene from Titanic." He said teasingly, referring to Pepper's favourite film.

"Tony Stark!" Pepper scolded while Steve and Bucky looked confused, and Eva's cheeks turned bright red at his suggestion.

"I did not need that image in my head, Tony." Sharon said horrified as she stared at him in shock.

"Titanic? As in the huge ship that sank?" Steve asked confused.

"They made a film out of a ship disaster?!" Bucky asked horrified and everyone nodded. But Steve and Bucky still look confused about the whole 'car scene' comment.

"The main couple had a steamy sex scene in a car." Natasha said helpfully.

"Oh." Steve said surprised and looked horrified then.

"Pep loves it, she likes Leonardo DiCaprio." Tony said cheerfully to his friends.

"Christ." Clint groaned horrified.

"I couldn't think of anything worse." Natasha agreed.

"Oh c'mon Romanoff, every chick, and guy for that matter has a favourite movie. And more often than not they are a guilty pleasure kind of movie that no one wants to admit to."

"Ok then Tony... what's yours?" Clint challenged, thinking Tony wouldn't admit to anything.

"Dirty Dancing." He said a little too quickly and the team burst out into laughter, all except Steve and Bucky of course who hadn't seen it. "What? I'm not ashamed, it's a good movie." Tony defended.

"Awful... just awful." Clint laughed.

"Alright Barton... spill! What's your guilty pleasure movie?" Tony asked amused.

"Hmmmm." He said as he thought for a moment. "Would have to be Armageddon." he admitted. "It's got plenty of action, heroes save the world and the ending makes you cry… my kind of movie." He smiled.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Tony agreed.

"Sharon… your turn." Tony told her.

"Pretty Woman." Sharon replied almost immediately. "Always loved it, always will." She said with a smile. And still, neither Steve nor Bucky had any clue what the others were referring to, but continued to listen to the others favourite movies.

"Sam… yours?"

"Top Gun." Sam smiled. "Nothing like a movie about fighter pilots."

"Good movie." Clint agreed.

"Eva?" Tony said as he turned to the young Russian. "I assume you have seen some movies since you got out of the Red Room?"

"A few here and there." she replied. "But my favourite so far would have to be My Sister's Keeper." She told them.

"I haven't seen that one." Tony admitted. "What's it about?"

"A young girl who is dying of cancer, the family had another child to try and help save her life. It's very sad, but heart-warming at the same time. It would make anyone cry." She said softly.

"Romanoff you're up." Tony told her.

"I don't really have a favourite." she told them.

"Liar!" Clint said calling her out. "You forget I can read your face babe... c'mon fess up!" He laughed.

"Alright, alright... it's PS I Love You." She admitted to everyone.

"What is it with you girls and sappy chick flicks." Tony laughed. "And usually someone dies! PS I Love You? Really? Does Gerard Butler's piss poor Irish accent not bother you? He should have just stuck with his Scottish accent."

"Every girl loves a good chick flick Tony, and contrary to popular belief I do have a heart." she laughed. "I can look past the accent. It's a sweet movie. It's sad and always makes me cry at the same part every damn time. But I love it. And c'mon... Gerard Butler and Jeffrey Dean Morgan... need I say more ladies?" She asked as she looked at her female team mates and they all nodded in agreement.

"No one can resist Jeffrey's charm." Pepper agreed.

"Cap... Barnes, we are going to have to get you guys up to speed on the movie front. I suggest a couple nights a week, we have a team movie night. A chance to spend time together, not fighting HYDRA, relax and have some laughs, or cry as the case may be." Tony suggested to everyone.

"I think that's a great idea Tony." Pepper told him.

"I have them occasionally." He laughed.

"Sounds great." Steve said, and everyone agreed.

* * *

Yelena Belkov smirked as she read up on the file of her long-time rival, Eva Nikolayev from their days in the Red Room. HYDRA wanted her capture her again. Eva was too valuable to be killed along with the Winter Soldier. They wanted the both of them back.

She walked over to the black armoured truck where three men were waiting. They had found their intended targets and soon, America would be on its knees along with Israel and Russia. Then HYDRA would build a better and new world.

She had to thank their spy within soon.

* * *

Eva had decided to head out to get some groceries before they headed to Washington. Since she had started cooking for the Avengers, the whole team decided it could be a permanent thing if she wanted to. They all loved her cooking. She parked up outside the store and headed inside. When she got everything she needed Eva headed to the self-service till and paid for the shopping. She then headed back to the car and began driving back to the Avengers Tower, when she got the strange feeling someone was watching her. She was just about to enter the Tower, when something smashed into her causing her car to spin out of control and clip a black truck and begin to roll.

"Shit!" Eva cursed as the car finally came to a stop. She looked at herself to see that she had cuts from the crash and her face felt bruised. Quickly she dialled Bucky's number and he answered almost immediately. "Hey babe what's up?" He asked cheerfully.

"I am a block away from home and someone just rolled my car. Please come quick!" She said desperately and all she heard on the other end was. "Shit!" And then he hung up. Slowly Eva began to crawl out from the wreckage, in what she hoped was the opposite direction of whoever did this to her.

"Shit!" Bucky cursed as he hit the call end button and tossed his phone aside, sprinting for the elevator.

"Bucky what's up?" Steve asked as Tony, Natasha and Clint gathered at the elevator with him.

"Eva's been attacked." he said as he rushed into the elevator pressing the floor for the armoury and then he hit the ground floor button. "She's just down the road."

"I'll get my suit and meet you guys there." Tony told them.

They all rushed to the armoury and grabbed their weapons, not bothering to put on their uniforms, they didn't have time for that. Piling back in to the elevator they team waited impatiently to reach the bottom of the tower. When they did they all sprinted out of the building and took off down the road where Clint told them he could see Eva taking cover behind a rolled vehicle.

As they approached they saw a woman along with a small army of men firing upon Eva who had her shield up, protecting the car and herself from their bullets. She saw her friends coming and she created a shield for them too so they could make it to her without getting shot.

"Eva are you alright?" Bucky asked as he surveyed her wounds.

"I'm fine Bucky. Really."

"What happened?" Natasha asked concerned.

"I'll explain later, it's Yelena." She told them grimly.

"Ugh that psychotic bitch." Natasha groaned. "Time to take her out."

"You don't need to tell me twice, this bitch is going down." Eva said darkly as she looked up and saw the woman striding towards them, she was wearing all black and carrying a Colt M4A1 with a M203 grenade launcher. "Fuck!" Eva cursed as she dove back down for cover, throwing a shield over them blocking Yelena's attack but she ended up being sent flying in the air and quickly got back up.

Eva pulled out her gun and took out some of the armed men. She didn't want to hurt bystanders with her powers who were fleeing the streets as Yelena fired again at her. She dove under an abandoned car and decided to lure Yelena away from the team and the civilians, Yelena was after her and she wouldn't let the woman hurt her family and lover.

"You can run but you can't hide, Evangeline!" Yelena taunted as she fired at her again, just as Eva ducked down an alley. Yelena frowned as she entered the alleyway and searched for any sight of Eva, when her goggles were shot at and she ducked for cover then before yanking them off and tossing them to the ground. She fired back at Eva who was behind an abandoned picked up truck, as Eva fired back at her with her two Colt Pythons before running out of ammo.

* * *

Eva ducked behind the pick-up and planted a small explosive charge before quickly fleeing out of sight and around the corner as Yelena approached. A loud explosion told Eva that her plan had worked and she sprinted back around the corner and jumped on Yelena then, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck tightly. Yelena grabbed her and threw her against the car, she picked up her gun and prepared to fire as Eva blasted her gun with her powers, causing it to misfire and explode in Yelena's face as Eva got away. Yelena looked at her slightly malfunctioned vibranium boned hands before clicking them back into place, and removing a shard of gun from her cheek.

"Stay out of the way! Get out of the way!" Eva shouted quickly as she ran in the open streets instead of where the civilians were. A few people panicked and began to hide in nearby buildings as she ran down to the corner where the team was. When she was almost there she got shot in the right shoulder. She clutched it in pain as she got behind a car, she tried to read Yelena's thoughts as she looked around carefully, but she couldn't seem to tune in to her. Her heart pounding heavily in her chest.

Then she saw Yelena landing on a car in front of her and Eva felt her blood run cold when Bucky dived in front of her and kicked her backwards. He kicked her again as he glanced over at Eva who was bleeding heavily from her gunshot wound. Seeing his partner injured only made him even madder, and he threw punch after punch at Yelena, his metal fist connecting especially hard with her face with a sickening clang. That's when he looked at her carefully and saw that behind the wound on her face wasn't bone but Vibranium. Her eyes sparked blue then and a huge jolt of electricity sent Bucky flying through a nearby window.

Clint and Natasha both attacked Yelena on top of the car, Natasha with a combat knife and Clint using his bow like it was a sword. Together they fought in smooth unison, each feeding off the other's moves. While Natasha had her distracted Clint pulled and arrow from his quiver and stabbed it as hard as he could into her leg until he felt it hit the bone, which seemed harder than average and he wondered if the majority of her skeleton was made up of vibranium, much like Eva's legs. As she screamed out in pain and turned back to Clint he snapped the arrow off in her leg and she let out another yelp before she blasted him with an electrical pulse sending him hurtling to the ground.

Natasha seized the opportunity and stabbed Yelena with her knife, plunging it into her shoulder as deep as she could before her opponent punched her hard across the face sending her rolling of the hood of the car, colliding roughly with the concrete.

Tony came flying in firing his pulsors at Yelena a couple of times before she released a huge electromagnetic pulse from her body rendering Tony's suit useless and he came crashing to the ground.

"You bitch!" Eva yelled. "Those are my friends!" She screamed as her whole body was engulfed in a purple aura and a ginormous ball of energy surged from her body straight for Yelena sending her flying through the air and crashing through the brick wall of a nearby building. Eva followed her and dragging her out of the rubble with a strength she didn't even realise she possessed she threw her back out onto the street.

There she was attacked by Bucky once more with a flying punch to her face with his metal arm. It connected with such force that you could hear the clang of metal on metal. He lay into her once more, punching her as hard as he could until she grabbed him by the throat and began choking him.

"Bucky!" Eva screamed alarmed. "LET HIM GO!" She roared as she released another blast of purple energy straight at Yelena. It blasted her away from Bucky and Eva could feel her whole body glow with energy, she was breathing heavily as she glared at Yelena angrily.  
The sky darkened and she focused her energy again, summoning all of her mental strength she sent a purple hex bolt straight at Yelena and it threw her back onto a black SUV.

"YOU TRAITOROUS BITCH!" Yelena screamed enraged and was about to blast her again with her electrical energy, when Bucky and Sam intervened then along with Sharon and Steve.

Sam flew in and kicked her to the ground, while Steve covered Natasha, Clint and Tony who were moving to safety. Bucky glared at Yelena as she pulled out a gun, pointing it at them, only to be blasted with another hex bolt from Eva who was leaning against the car heavily. It sent Yelena flying and she crumpled to the ground.

The sound of sirens blazed in the distance as Eva walked over to where Bucky was, he pulled her into him tightly and they saw soldiers pour out of vehicles aiming guns at them.

"Arrest them!" Thaddeus Ross ordered harshly.

"Steve, what do we do?" Bucky asked worried.

Eva looked back over to where Yelena had landed to find she was gone, she looked around but there was no sign of here. As she saw the soldiers converge on her friends, her family Eva lashed out, she let a huge blast of energy out from her hands, throwing all the soldiers back and knocking them out, including Ross. She started to slump to the ground and Bucky quickly caught her.

"We have to get out of here." Steve told everyone.

"Get back home and get to the quinjet. I'll take us to a safe house, we don't know who we can trust." Clint said grimly.

* * *

 _All hell is breaking loose._


	14. The Darkest Parts Of Us

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 14

* * *

Clint landed the Quinjet in a paddock not far from a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, it was a safe house he had set up years ago when he had first joined SHIELD. He always liked to have a place to himself that very few people knew about. Just in case things ever went south really bad and he needed a place to lay low. Natasha had been there a few times with him, after missions had gotten a little crazy and they needed to wait for the heat to die down.

The team slowly made their way up to the house, they were all pretty banged up from their fight with Yelena, and Eva was both physically and mentally drained. Using her powers so much had been very taxing.

"Make yourselves at home guys." Clint said as he opened the front door and let them all in.

"This place is yours?" Tony asked impressed.

"Yep. Completely off the grid. Only Fury knows about it so we are safe here."

"Thank you Clint." Eva said with a small smile.

"There are bedrooms down the hall and a couple more upstairs, the one at the very end is mine, the rest you can all fight over. Bathroom is on the right, there is only one, apart from the ensuite in my room so take turns, play nice. Cupboards are always stocked so help yourselves to food. I'm going to tend to Tasha's wounds and take a shower." he told everyone as he took Natasha's hand and led her down to his room.

Closing the door behind him, he led her to the bed and sat her down. He retrieved a first aid kit from the bathroom and began to clean the small gash to her forehead before applying a few butterfly stitches. He rubbed some antiseptic cream into the other small scrapes on her face and hands before kissing her lips gently and returning to the bathroom to turn the shower on.

* * *

Eva staggered into the shower and turned on the hot water before climbing in, not caring if it burned her. She started scrubbing away at her skin, trying to wash away all her pain, trying to forget the dark memories of her past as a spy of the Red Room.

It didn't work. No amount of scrubbing was going to wash away this blood on her hands.

When she closed her eyes all she kept on seeing was Malia's face. Right before Yelena had violently killed her and there had been nothing that Eva could do to save her best friend from that psychotic bitch.

She shook her head before washing herself some more and then washing her hair. She turned off the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. As she staggered into the bedroom and sat down on the bed she pulled some clothes from her bag. She got changed into a black tank top, clean underwear and dark blue jeans.

Bucky quietly entered then and saw how battered and exhausted Eva looked after fighting Yelena with her powers. She was trying to tend to her own wounds, but her hands were shaking badly.

"Here, let me do that." Bucky said quietly and Eva nodded as she let him stitch up the cuts with a needle and thread.

"Thank you, James." Eva said gratefully as Bucky finished up and handed her a toasted, bacon and chicken sandwich to eat. While he ate his and she leaned heavily into him, almost as though it was a struggle just to hold herself up.

"Get some sleep." Bucky said softly after Eva had finished eating her sandwich and then brushed her teeth. She smiled and curled into his side as he wrapped the covers around her gently and watched her fall asleep. It didn't take long for Eva to fall into a deep sleep. Bucky knew how exhausted she was. Her powers had been stronger than he had ever seen them, but it had drained almost all of the energy from her body. He held her close while she slept and slowly he drifted off too.

* * *

Steve, Sharon, and Sam were in the kitchen making some food, while Tony and Pepper took a shower. Sharon was making some omelettes while Steve buttered the toast. After their battle in the streets of New York they were all pretty tired, but they were hungry too. So while they waited for the bathroom to be free they made the most of that time getting some food down.

* * *

Natasha and Clint finished up their shower and quickly dried off, throwing on sweat pants and t-shirts they made their way back out to the kitchen to get something to eat. They both wanted sleep more than anything, but they knew they needed to get something to eat first. As they entered they were greeted by Sam, Steve and Sharon who were just finishing up their food.

"We made some for you guys too." Sharon told them as she pointed to the oven where their plates of food were being kept warm.

"Thanks guys." Clint replied as ha retrieved the food and the two of them began to dig in. Soon after Tony and Pepper emerged announcing that they bathroom was free, and grabbing the other two plates from the oven they sat down to eat too.

Steve and Sharon took that opportunity to go get cleaned up before taking a nap.

"Sam, you can use the en suite bathroom if you like." Clint told him as he observed his team mate who looked very tired.

"Thanks man." He replied as he got up off the couch and headed for the hallway.

"Towels are in the cupboard on your left!" Clint called after him, before continuing to eat his meal.

"Thanks!" Sam called out and they heard the door close as they ate in silence. A short while later Bucky and Eva come down looking a little more refreshed after having a quick nap.

"So we have a psychotic assassin with powers like Eva's and we are now on the run from Thaddeus Ross." Tony said darkly and ate a bit more of his omelette. "Did I miss anything?" He added grimly and everyone shook their heads in response. As the door rang, Clint went to answer it while Eva took some much needed painkillers that Bucky handed to her. Her whole body hurt and she felt drained.

Director Nick Fury walked in with Clint. He was holding a briefcase and the expression on his face looked grim. "Well, Ross hasn't found you yet but he's on the lookout for all of you and he isn't gonna stop. Hill and I found these files on various Red Room agents that we believe are still in play. And these HYDRA agents who will most likely be at the last remaining HYDRA base in Washington." Fury said gravely.

"Most of them are enhanced, just like Yelena." Eva said grimly as she looked at the files, including the one on her arch nemesis since her days in the Red Room program.

They'd been rivals since meeting each other, even on the first night when they had been chained to the beds by their hands and feet Yelena had tried to get under her skin. Eva still remembered being chained up on her bed every night in the beginning. She always tried to get away but it was impossible. Eva hated thinking about the Red Room. She wished that she could just forget that any of it ever happened. Unfortunately it was burned into her mind, and no amount of wishing would get rid of those memories. She just hoped that eventually, with time they would fade. And once she took Yelena down she could be free of the burden of her past.

"After your fight with the ex-Red Room assassin, I'm sure you all are in need of a bit of rest. So take a few days. Hill and I will continue to gather what intel we can and we will assemble a couple of teams to assist you in the take down of the Washington HYDRA base" Fury told everyone. "I'll be in touch." he said as he clapped Steve on the back and then left.

"Well... you all heard the man. Time for rest." Clint said as he retired to his bedroom with Natasha.

"C'mon babe, I'll make you something else to eat and then you can sleep some more." Bucky told Eva.

"Sorry I didn't make you anything guys, you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you." Sharon told them as she and Steve were leaving the room in search of a bedroom to get some rest in.

"It's ok, James brought me a sandwich earlier." Eva smiled. "I think I needed a nap more than food at that point."

Soon it was just Bucky and Eva left as the others had all gone off for some much needed rest. Bucky found a bunch of ingredients and blended Eva up a smoothie packed full of energy, as well as some sandwiches for the both of them. They ate their food in a comfortable silence until Bucky spoke up. He had been watching his partner quietly, observing the concerned look on her face.

"We will stop her Eva. We will put an end to HYDRA and their schemes." He reassured her.

"I know James. I just wish that so many innocent people weren't getting hurt because of them. The sooner we can take them down, the less people will get hurt."

"We will be back in the fight soon, but for now. We have to rest. Your powers are strong, but they take a lot out of you." Bucky told her.

"I know, you're right but I just worry about what they're up to." Eva said knowingly. After they had finished their meal and washed up the plates, they headed back up to bed. Bucky held her close as they got under the sheets and she curled into him, her long blonde hair still a little damp from the shower. They were safe for now. He kissed her forehead and tried to get some sleep himself.

* * *

The next morning was relatively quiet, with everyone still recovering from the fight. Eva was doing some meditating and was listening to some soothing music along with Natasha. Clint had joined them too, obviously he had picked it up from Natasha, being partnered together for so long. Some old habits that the Red Room had taught them. Meditation was a big thing for them, it was often how they prepped for a mission, and it helped to clear their minds. Eva got up and took an aspirin for the slight pain in her left leg, before looking at it quietly, wondering about the vibranium. If her legs were made out of metal, then Yelena's body must have been made out of the same thing. She must have been given a vibranium endoskeleton to further enhance her, she thought as she remembered seeing a bit of metal beneath her face during their fight on the street.

"Hey Clint, did Yelena have metal bones when you stabbed her?" She asked curiously.

"Whatever I hit with my arrow, definitely wasn't normal bone." He replied grimly.

She started remembering something from her training in the Red Room then. She'd only been sixteen years old at the time.

* * *

 _Eva walked alongside Madame B as they watched a ballet instructor train the newest Red Room recruits, much like the other students they would constantly do ballet until their bodies were so strong you would think their bones were made from marble._

 _She would be doing her first test soon. An assassination on an upcoming politician who was challenging the KGB, they had requested her for the mission personally as they were impressed by her training._

 _"We have no place in the world, we live in the shadows." Eva answered instantly as always and Madame B nodded in satisfaction then at her._

 _"What if I fail?" Eva asked, and Madame B smiled in a motherly way to her protégée._

 _"You won't fail, you never do." Madame answered confidently to her student who nodded in reply. "What is our motto?"_

* * *

Eva left and wandered outside to take a walk through Clint's farm. She needed some fresh air and time to think. She was physically and mentally exhausted, and everything that had happened over the past few months, what was going on with her and Yelena... it was all taking a huge toll on her. She felt as though she might snap.

She harboured so much anger. Anger that he parents had died. Anger that she had been sent to an orphanage. Anger that she was recruited into the Red Room and turned into a murderer. So much anger that she struggled to keep it in. She struggled to control it and not let it consume her. But the problem with trying to keep it all in, was that it was slowly building up to the point where she felt like there was no more room for any more anger or hatred.

Before she knew what was happening she had tears streaming down her face. All the emotions she had felt lately flooded over her like a tidal wave and there was no controlling it. There was no holding back. So she let the tears fall freely as she stood beneath the trees, alone. Free of prying eyes and free of judgement. She tried hard to control her breathing but it all just washed over her and she felt as though she was being swept away in a stormy sea of emotions. It was all too much. Too much pain, too much anger, too much sadness. Too much death... Was it ever going to end? Eva found herself gasping for air as she struggled with her demons, with her emotions and her fears.

Letting out an almighty scream a huge blast of energy was released from her body sending a purple shockwave through the trees, practically disintegrating them until there was nothing left but scraps of bark and sawdust. Collapsing to her knees, she sobbed into her hands.

Bucky had seen Eva leave the farmhouse, and after waiting a while for her to return he went looking for her. He was halfway across a field when he saw the flash of purple and a cluster of trees all but vanish. He sprinted as fast as he could until he came to the newly made clearing to find his friend, his lover, on her knees crying uncontrollably.

"Eva!" He yelled as he ran towards her.

"No! James... stay back!" She cried. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't... I know you won't. Please Eva." He begged, wanting nothing but to comfort her.

"My emotions... I feel so much. I feel everything. Stronger than I ever have before and I can't control it. I feel so drained. But these feelings, they are making my powers unpredictable." she sobbed.

"It's ok Eva. Please let me help you." He said as he cautiously approached.

"My powers are so strong... when my emotions get out of control... I could hurt you."

"Just focus on me okay. Look into my eyes Eva." He told her. "I'm here for you. I will do anything in my power to keep you safe. I know you are scared and I know that the last few months have been so hard on you. But things will get easier I promise. We will work through everything together."

"What's happening to me James?"

"I don't know my love. But no matter what we are in this together." He said as he wrapped his strong arms around her, enveloping her in his warm embrace. He picked up her weak and shaky body in his arms and carried her back to the farmhouse. She needed to rest and regain control of her emotions and Bucky knew that he would do whatever it took to help her through it.

* * *

Natasha was sitting quietly on the couch beside Clint, when they saw Bucky come in with a very teary looking Eva in his arms. She looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown or had just suffered one. Bucky gave them both a nod, before taking Eva upstairs as they watched on in a worried silence.

"You think Eva's ok, Nat?" Clint asked quietly and Natasha shook her head, she knew from experience that Eva was not alright. She had felt the same way when she had left the Red Room and started a new life where everything seemed so foreign. She felt the same again when she found out she was working for HYDRA instead of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"No, I don't think she is. She came face to face with the woman who killed her best friend in front of her as a sixteen year old kid. If that was me, I would snap too." Natasha admitted sadly.

"Hey who made that new clearing? You been cutting firewood Barton?" Tony asked curiously as he carried in his damaged Iron Man suit with Pepper holding some equipment for him. "Should have said something. I would have helped."

"Eva had a nervous breakdown." Clint said quietly as Steve, Sam and Sharon came in then with the boxes that Fury had sent them, causing everyone to stare then.

"Is she ok?" Sharon asked concerned. When the stuff in the room began to levitate before dropping back down and they all got their answer.

Bucky came down the stairs then looking broken.

"Bucky what's wrong?" Steve asked worriedly as he saw how pained his best friend looked.

"Eva...she's scared and she pretty much kicked me out of the bedroom when my metal arm started acting up from what Yelena did to me. She said she's not safe for me to be around." Bucky said angrily and cursed then in Russian before speaking in English.

"Fucking HYDRA and Red Room bastards!"

"She'll come around Bucky. She just needs some time." Natasha told him comfortingly. "She's been through so much, and all of this... her powers, The Avengers, taking on HYDRA. This is all new to her. It's a lot to take in. Her whole life has been turned upside down. She is just going through an adjustment period."

"I'm worried about her powers in the state that she's in. When she gets emotional it's like her powers are heightened, but she struggles to control them."

"Did she have a breakdown or a panic attack?" Pepper asked concerned.

"I'm not sure." Bucky told her. "Probably a bit of both."

"Maybe some anxiety medication would help? Natasha suggested. "It helped me..." She said and the whole team, except for Clint looked at her in slight shock. They all thought that Natasha was so 'together', they never thought that she would have had anxiety problems. "Look guys... being in the red room, to be blunt... it fucks you up. In ways that I hope that you all will never ever have to understand. Eva and I, this is something we have in common. Maybe I could talk to her?" She suggested, looking towards Bucky for approval.

"It's worth a shot, thanks Natasha."

"No problem. We're a team. We gotta look out for one another." She replied as she left the room to go see her friend.

* * *

Natasha knocked gently on the door and when she heard a soft 'yeah' in reply she entered. "Hey." She whispered to Eva. "Mind if I come in?" She asked, and Eva nodded in reply. She sat down on the bed next to the young Russian and looked at her with concern and sympathy. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." Eva whispered quietly.

"Ok... then maybe I can talk and you can just listen?"

"Sure."

"You and I, we have a lot in common. Our time in the Red Room, it shaped us into the people we are today. Everything we went through was horrible, but in a way it made us strong." Natasha told her.

"I don't feel strong." Eva sighed.

"I know... there was a time that I felt the same. When everything you know in this world is turned upside down, it's hard to find your footing again. It's hard to know who you really are. I was lost for a very long time. Before I even left the Red Room. I guess that's why it wasn't so hard for me to turn my back on them. I knew in my heart that I didn't belong there. That the things they made me do were wrong."

"How did you find your way again? How did you find yourself?" Eva asked curious.

"Clint." Natasha smiled. "He saw something inside of me, something that even I didn't know existed. He brings out the best in me, he always has. I know that right now things seem so crazy and that everything is getting on top of you. The key is to focus on the things you can control instead of the things you can't. For the moment forget about HYDRA, forget about Yelena, and just focus on you. What makes you happy Eva? What makes you feel safe?" Natasha asked knowingly.

"James." Eva replied with a small smile.

"He cares so much about you Eva, don't push him away."

"I'm worried that I can't control my powers. I don't want to hurt him. Or any of you."

"You won't. We've all seen what you can do. If we were scared, we would tell you. We trust you Eva. You're one of the team, and we all have your back, okay."

"Okay. Thanks Nat." She smiled as she gave her Russian friend a hug. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Any time." Natasha smiled in return as she got up and headed for the door.

"Hey Nat."

"Yeah?"

"Can you ask Bucky to come back up please?"

"Sure thing." She replied, before heading back downstairs in search of Bucky.

* * *

She found him in the kitchen with Tony who was working on his metal arm, repairing the damage that Yelena had inflicted. "Is she okay?" Bucky asked quietly, still feeling a little hurt that Eva had told him to leave.

"She's fine Bucky, she wants to see you, and she feels bad for pushing you away." Natasha encouraged softly and Bucky nodded as Tony finished fixing his arm then.

"Thanks, Tony." Bucky said gratefully and Tony nodded at him with a smile on his face as he took the coffee Pepper had made him and sipped at it.

Bucky headed upstairs to the room he shared with Eva.

"Hey." Eva said softly and bit her lip then as her blonde bangs fell into her eyes. She brushed them away, before hugging Bucky tightly trying to desperately show how terrible she felt for treating him badly and he held her back tightly.

"I'm so sorry James, I never meant to hurt you or push you away...I just got so scared when you saw me break down like that and I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you...I love you and if something ever happened to you." Eva was cut off by Bucky's lips on hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm never gonna leave you Eva, you're stuck with me and I love you doll. You're my girl and we're in this together. Made you a promise baby, and I'm not breaking it." Bucky said firmly, causing Eva to cry then before kissing him happily. She knew in that moment, that no matter how hard things got, as long as she had Bucky by her side, everything would be okay.

* * *

 _Some emotion in tis chapter. Enjoy :)_


	15. The Conspiracy

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 15

* * *

After a few more days had passed by, the team were well rested and ready for their next mission. Clint and Natasha had been doing a lot of training with Steve, Sharon and Sam. Bucky had been helping Eva learn to control her powers in emotional and stressful situations. And Tony, with the help of Pepper, had been making adjustments and modifications to his suit, as well as the rest of the teams gear. Together with Jarvis, He had created a synthetic polymer that was extremely flexible, but had the strength of Kevlar. He used it to strengthen his team-mates uniforms so that they would hold up in a knife battle as well as hopefully stop a few bullets. Or at least lessen the damage.

As well as that Tony had come up with a recipe for an energy drink for Eva. It was full of electrolytes and various other things to help her recover quickly when he powers drained her. He also made up some in an injection form, in case she ever got too drained during a fight. The injections would help her instantly.

When the time came, Clint and Natasha flew the team to Washington in the quinjet, careful to stay under the radar as they were still being hunted by Thaddeus Ross. Fury and Hill had given them as much intel as they possibly could and the whole team had gone over it all extremely thoroughly. They knew the layout of the base, inside and out as well as some of the people they were likely to come across there. Along with Yelena, there were at least half a dozen other ex-Red Room agents still alive and working with HYDRA.

They landed the jet on the outskirts of Washington, a couple of miles from where the last remaining HYDRA base was located. From there they went on foot, not wanting to alert the enemy to their presence. The element of surprise was something they needed to maintain. When they neared the base, they saw the four guard towers that Fury had pointed out to them when he handed over the aerial shots of the base.

Clint, Bucky, Natasha and Steve each took their positions and lined up their shots with sniper rifles. On Steve's mark they all took their shots, eliminating the guards in the towers simultaneously with precision and silence. Once they were taken out, they had their window to get into the base. With their stealth training, Eva and Natasha made their way to the front entrance and each took out one of the guards at the door, before informing the team through their comms that they were clear to breach the base. They all entered through the same door and split off into teams of three. Natasha and Clint took the left corridor, while Bucky and Eva took the right one. Leaving Steve, Sharon, Tony and Sam to proceed down the main corridor, before they each split off into pairs further down.

Steve and Sharon cautiously looked around a large room that appeared to be used for storage. They found some small wooden crates, but they were empty. They came across a larger crate at the far end, big enough to have had a nuclear missile inside it, but that too was empty.

"None of the nuclear weapons are here." Sharon said grimly as she looked back at Steve just as two young women entered the door behind him.

"This doesn't have to be a fight." Steve tried to reason, but the women just glared at him.

Their response was to start firing at them.

"I'll take that as no then?!" Sharon called out sarcastically and blasted at one of them with a gun that Tony had made for her. It fired off shots much like the pulsors in his suit. When it blasted off the woman's arm, Sharon looked at her in slight horror, but the missing limb quickly grew back and she began to glow orange. "What the hell!?" Sharon questioned, looking puzzled and frightened.

Sharon shot at her again, blasting a small hole through the woman's chest, making her glow even brighter as it began to heal. Not taking the risk Sharon fired off yet another shot and the young woman cried out as her body fought to repair itself before she was engulfed in an amber light and her body exploded leaving no trace of her whatsoever.

Steve quickly covered himself and Sharon with his shield as part of the building collapsed causing the foundations to shake violently.

* * *

Clint and Natasha felt the whole building shake and they tried to get in contact with the others.

"Is everyone alright?" Clint asked concerned.

"Yeah we're fine. Something weird is going on here though. More HYDRA experiments I'm guessing." Steve replied gravely.

"You honestly thought we weren't prepared for your team, Natalia?" A voice taunted and they turned around to see a dark haired young woman standing there.

"Who the hell are you?" Clint asked while he stood in front of Natasha, shielding her as he drew an arrow and aimed it straight for the woman's head.

"Aww how cute. Is this your little boyfriend Natalia? Does he think he can protect you from me?" She laughed.

"I'll do my damned best bitch." Clint growled as he let go of the arrow and sent it soaring straight for her. The young girl lifted her hand up in the air and stopped the arrow in its tracks before flicking her hand off to the side and Natasha and Clint watched as the arrow fell to the ground with a clatter.

"She's enhanced." Natasha whispered to her partner.

"Great... now what?" Clint replied darkly.

"We kick her ass." She said as she rushed at the young woman, throwing a punch towards her face. But the girl was quick, she ducked the punch and threw one of her own back, connecting with Natasha's rib cage. Clint came rushing in, and using his bow he swung at her as hard as he could. She threw up her arm to shield her face and the bow connected with a clang.

"Seriously? More vibranium women? Clint groaned, before he drew another arrow from his quiver and slashed at her with it. She was too fast for him, and continued to block all of his attacks. Until she was blindsided by a kick in the head from Natasha, and Clint took the opportunity to plunge the arrow into the woman's stomach, avoiding anywhere he knew could have metal skeleton. As he tore the arrow back out of her body she began to bleed immensely.

"You bastard!" The girl yelled as she struck him hard across the face with her vibranium filled hand, sending him stumbling back. Holding her stomach wound she continued to try to fight Natasha off, but the Black Widow had her beat. Injured she was no match. As the young girl threw a punch at Natasha she countered her attack and grabbing her arm she twisted it around until she heard a sickening metallic crack. With a dislocated shoulder and a heavily bleeding stomach wound the young girl was pretty banged up, but still she wouldn't give in.

She kicked out, but Natasha grabbed her leg and stomped down as hard as she could on the girl's knee, dislocating her knee cap as well. The girl screamed out in pain and reached for her side arm. Before she could draw her gun, Clint fired off an arrow sending it right through the girl's eye socket and she dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

"That was intense." He said to his partner.

"Tell me about it." She smiled grimly. "Guys, we just took out an ex Red Room operative. She was enhanced with a vibranium skeleton. She was one tough little bitch." Natasha told the rest of her team through her comms.

"Copy that." Steve said warningly. "Proceed with caution."

* * *

"Thanks for the warning." Tony spoke through his comms as he and Sam searched their section of the building, when they heard Eva's voice come through the comms.

"We found some strange looking explosives but the rest of the rooms look empty, it looks like they were expecting us." Eva said grimly as they continued to search around.

Sam and Tony searched another room, where they came upon blueprints that looked like it was made for a train and two buildings, Sam shoved them into his backpack just as two enhanced Red Room operatives stalked towards them.

"Great." Tony said sarcastically as one of them tried to kick him but he blocked the attack and fired at her with his pulsors blasting her arm off but it quickly regrew as her body glowed orange.

What the hell...

It suddenly dawned on Tony that they had taken the Extremis serum that Maya Hansen had designed and created. He fired at her again, taking out one of her legs and she began to repair herself once more but it was too much. The Extremis overwhelmed her system and she began to glow bright orange. Tony shoved Sam behind a crate and covered them both as the young woman exploded, taking out the other girl as well as half of the room they were in.

"Tony, Sam, are you two alright?" Steve asked concerned as he heard the explosion over the comms followed by a lot of coughing.

"We're fine but how the hell did Hansen's serum get into HYDRA?" Tony asked stunned as they made their way out of the wreckage.

"I'm honestly afraid to ask." Sam replied quietly.

* * *

Bucky and Eva cautiously ventured around one of the rooms, when they saw Yelena step out then from the shadows.

"I'm amazed you two are still alive."

"Yelena." Eva growled as she looked her nemesis in the eye.

"I think it's time I finally finished the two of you off." Yelena laughed as her hands began to spark with a blue electric energy. She shot out her hands, directing a blast straight for Bucky and Eva threw up her shield in defence before blasting her with a hex bolt sending her staggering backwards.

Eva and Bucky moved quickly towards her, determined to gain the upper hand. Bucky came in with a flying punch to Yelena's face, a loud clang of metal on metal as his fist connected. He followed up with a few more punches before grabbing her in a choke hold. She flipped him over onto his back and attempted to stomp on his rib cage before Eva blasted her with another wave of purple energy sending him flying backwards into a wall. Eva rushed at her then, her knee colliding with Yelena's stomach as she doubled over, the wind knocked right out of her.

She recovered quickly, climbing back to her feet she threw a couple of punches at Eva, her vibranium fists connecting hard with Eva's face. Bucky came running in from the side, kicking Yelena away from his lover, and following up with another strong punch with his metal arm. But he was no match for the enhanced Yelena Belova. She grabbed him by the throat and lifting him into the air she began to surge her electrical powers through his body causing him to shake violently.

"Bucky!" Eva screamed as she released a huge blast of energy from her whole body straight for Yelena, knocking the Russian off her feet as she dropped Bucky, his body slumping to the ground. As much as Eva wanted to run to him, she knew that she had to act quickly. She blasted Yelena with another strong Hex bolt as she began to stand up, knocking her back once more.

"You will pay for all the bad things you have done!" Eva yelled as she blasted her once more. Rushing over to her, she grabbed her now weakened enemy, pulling her up from the ground by her hair. She proceeded to hold her in a headlock, cutting of her air supply as she wrapped her legs around her body, preventing her from being able to fight back.

"What is HYDRA planning!?" Eva growled. "Where are the nukes?"

"Silly girl... you can't stop it now." Yelena laughed.

"Stop what?"

"It's too late Evangeline, you and your friends... those of you that fight it... you will all die. The rest will be under the rule of HYDRA! The whole city... the whole country... the entire world. It will be magnificent!" Yelena told her.

"Too bad you won't be around to see it, bitch!" Eva growled as she twisted Yelena's head as hard as she could until she heard a metallic kind of snap and her enemy slumped to the ground.

Eva looked at Yelena's limp body on the ground as she took in the fact that she had avenged Malia and everyone who had been killed or tortured, this woman wasn't going to hurt anyone else. She ran over to Bucky and cradled his head in her lap, she placed her hands on either side of his head, _'James...James wake up...please.'_ Eva said telepathically and nothing happened for a minute, Eva felt tears stream down her face as she thought Bucky was gone. After a few moments Bucky coughed heavily and took a deep breath. Eva hugged him tightly, feeling deeply relieved that Yelena's shocks hadn't killed him.

"Are you alright?" Eva asked worriedly as she looked him over for any visible injuries, Bucky nodded and hugged her tightly.

"I'm fine Eva, I'm alright doll." Bucky reassured and held her tightly as he saw Yelena's dead body on the ground. They both stood up as Eva spoke to Steve through her comms.

"Steve we're clear here but it looks HYDRA took some stuff that they really didn't want us to find." She said grimly.

"Alright, meet us at the lab." Steve replied and the two of them left the room and found themselves facing off against two teenage girls in the corridor who were no older than nineteen years.

"You don't have to do this." Eva said quietly, trying to reason with them but they blasted at her.

Dodging their attack Eva kicked one of the women in the face while Bucky punched the other woman before shooting her, she staggered back in pain and that was when they saw the stab wound heal. Her face glowed then and Bucky cut off her hand, the woman screamed in pain as it started to grow back. Bucky grabbed her and threw her into a wall and she crumpled into a heap. He went to help Eva who was fighting with the other young woman. Grabbing her in a headlock Eva slit the woman's throat and she fell to the ground. She began to bleed out, but her whole body started to glow orange as her wound began to heal itself. The woman screamed out in pain as her body became engulfed in the orange light.

"Get back!" Bucky yelled as he pulled Eva into one of the rooms and behind a crate as the young woman exploded, causing the building to tremor.

"Steve! What the hell is with these girls exploding!?" Bucky asked as they rushed into a lab where the rest of the team had rendezvoused.

"I think it is the Extremis serum. HYDRA must have gotten their hands on it. It doesn't seem quite as volatile as when Aldrich Kilian was using it, maybe HYDRA have been tampering with it. But clearly it is still very unstable, more so than before." Tony spoke up.

"Great. Just what we need. HYDRA experimenting with more dangerous chemical cocktails." Natasha said bluntly.

"Well the upside is Yelena is out of the picture." Eva said quietly.

"For good?" Steve questioned.

"Well... I snapped the bitch's neck so... yeah. Safe to say we won't be seeing her again."

"Good riddance." Natasha sighed.

"We still haven't located any of the stolen Nukes. This is a real problem guys." Steve announced to the team.

"Yelena was saying something about HYDRA taking over the country and the world. Killing all who oppose them and ruling over the rest." Eva relayed the information.

"HYDRA is planning on taking over the world!?" Clint asked, alarmed.

"Sounds like it." Steve confirmed. "Problem is we have no idea what exactly they are planning on using the Nukes for. Did anyone find any intel?"

"Nothing." Natasha said, and the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"I found some blue prints." Sam spoke up. "Could be helpful."

"Right, well two shield teams have just landed and are going to do a sweep of the facility before destroying it. I think we have had enough excitement for one day. Let's get out of here." Steve said tiredly.

They all nodded and started to leave, when Eva saw a memory stick on the floor under one of the desks.

"Where did you find that?" Bucky asked curiously and Eva pointed to the spot. They needed to find out what HYDRA was planning, and soon.

* * *

After everyone had showered and gotten back into ordinary clothes, they were now watching Tony place the memory stick into a computer. Immediately it seemed to hijack the computers system and the camera turned on focusing on all of them.

"Stark, Anthony Edward. Also known as Tony or Iron Man. Born May the 29th 1970." The computer said in an accented Russian voice as it focused in on Tony. The voice sounded so familiar to Eva, she would swear she had heard it somewhere before.

"Potts, Virginia Elizabeth. Also known as Pepper. Born August the 20th 1985." The voice said as the camera rested on Pepper then for a minute, causing the woman to look alarmed.

"Rodgers, Steven Grant. Also known as Steve or Captain America. Born November the 18th 1918." The voice said calmly as the camera focused on Steve before moving along to Sharon then.

"Carter, Sharon Catherine. Also known as Agent 13. Born September the 12th 1992." The voice said before the camera shifted its focus to Sam.

"Wilson, Samuel Thomas. Also known as Sam or Falcon. Born September the 23rd 1978." The voice said smoothly before the camera turned towards Clint.

"Barton, Clinton Francis. Also known as Clint or Hawkeye. Born January the 17th 1971." The voice said calmly before the camera focused on Natasha.

"Romanova, Natalia Alianovna. Also known as Natasha Romanoff or The Black Widow. Born November the 22nd 1984." The voice said continued as it shifted its focus again this time landing on Bucky.

"Barnes, James Buchannan. Also known as Bucky or The Winter Soldier. Born March the 10th 1917." The voice said before moving once more to focus on Eva.

"Nikolayev, Evangeline Marina. Also known as Eva or Psyche. Born June the 24th 1993." The voice said calmly as they all stared at the computer screen in shock.

"Must be some kind of recording." Sharon commented wearily and the voice chuckled in response.

"I am not a recording Miss Carter. I might not be the man my dear god daughters may remember me as." The voice said snidely as the camera zoomed in on Natasha and Eva then. "But I am still a man." He continued as a picture flashed up on the screen for a moment.

"You know this guy?" Tony asked surprised as Natasha and Eva's eyes narrowed then.

"His name's Pavlo Baykov, He's a Russian scientist. He was one of the people who created the Red Room serum. I didn't know he was my god father though..." Eva said darkly as she glared at the recording then.

"You can thank your fathers for the serum actually, it was their genius minds that created it. However once Yuri and Mikhail learned what we planned to do with the serum... they wanted out. They attempted to stop us but...accidents do happen." Pavlo said amused as two newspaper articles came up on the screen.

"Russia grieves loss of two world renowned scientists." Eva read aloud. "'Two brothers Mikhail and Yuri were killed in tragic accidents within three years of each other.'" She continued.

"Wait... are we...?" Natasha began as she looked over at Eva.

"Cousins my dear." The voice said finishing the sentence for her.

"That doesn't add up... I don't remember much about my parents, but I do know that I was orphaned very young. With mine and Eva's ages, if Yuri and Mikhail were our fathers then they couldn't possibly have died only three years apart. Eva didn't lose her family until she was eleven. He's lying." Natasha stated.

"You are very clever Miss Romanova... however your father did not die when you were quite so young." The voice told her.

"What... what are you talking about!? My mother and father died when I was only a little girl."

"Well, you are half right. Your mother was killed, but we captured your father. We couldn't just kill him, he was of use to us you see. It would be a shame to waste such a brilliant mind. He and Yuri had already been working for us. They tried to leave, so we had your mother killed and your father held prisoner. That was enough to keep Yuri in line… at least for a while." The voice laughed.

"We? Who is we?" Eva asked suspiciously.

"HYDRA of course young Nikolayev."

"Great! So now you're telling us that our fathers worked for HYDRA too?" Natasha said, sounding very upset.

"Not willingly... but yes. They were told if they did not do what they were asked, we would take away what was most precious in the world to them."

"Their daughters." Clint spoke up.

"Correct Mr Barton."

"You're lying! My father would never work for you!" Eva yelled outraged.

"Believe what you will my dear, but I am telling you the truth. Have Mr Stark test your DNA, you will see that I am not lying to you."

"What do you want Pavlo?" Steve asked the voice.

"I want Miss Romanova and Miss Nikolayev." He replied smoothly.

"Never gonna happen." Bucky growled.

"If you surrender yourselves to me, HYDRA will spare the lives of your friends."

"This is bullshit!" Clint said angrily. "HYDRA never spares anyone, let alone someone who could stop them. It's all a trick. We can't listen to this guy."

"Barton's right. I'm done with this!" Tony said angrily as he pulled the USB from the computer.

"What the hell was that?" Sharon asked alarmed.

"We've seen this kind of thing before with Dr Zola. He uploaded his mind into computers when he knew he was going to die." Steve said gravely.

"Are we sure this guy is dead? I mean he said he wasn't a machine, not that we want to believe a single word he says." Tony asked as he began searching for intel on his IPad. "But there is no record of his death."

"Maybe the stick was some kind of virus. When you plugged it in it took control of the computer, allowing him to communicate with us and access the webcam?" Natasha suggested.

"Highly likely." Tony replied grimly. "And that's exactly why I used a laptop independent of the internet and the rest of our system. The last thing we needed was for any of our files and data to be compromised."

"Good thinking Tony." Steve said as he clapped him on the back lightly.

"It happens occasionally." Tony smiled.

"Do we have the gear to run blood tests?" Eva spoke up. "I'd like to see if there is any truth to what he said."

"Me too. If what he said is true, the small amount that I did know about my family was all a lie." Natasha said sadly.

* * *

 _Enjoy the chapter, and Happy New Year everyone :)_


	16. The Revelation

Summary: Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 16

* * *

"I'll run it right now, gonna need some of your DNA though you two." Tony informed them and they nodded in agreement. Pepper took some swabs of DNA from their mouths while Sharon took a vial of blood from each of them. Tony placed each of the samples into a machine and began typing and clicking away on his computer.

They both waited in silence for a while, eager to hear the results. Everyone was still a little shocked by the fact that Natasha and Eva might be cousins. The whole team waited around patiently for the DNA tests to be confirmed.

Tony stared at the computer then in shock as the results were displayed on the screen. He roamed his eyes over what was written:

 _'DNA Results.'_

 _'Natalia Alianovna Romanova: Parents - Mikhail Nikolayev and Anastasia Romanova. '_

 _'Evangeline Marina Nikolayev: Parents - Yuri Nikolayev and Marina Babikov.'_

 _'Mikhail and Yuri's relation: Brothers'_

 _'Natalia and Evangeline's relation: Paternal Cousins.'_

"Well the DNA results are done, Natasha and Eva are most definitely paternal cousins." Tony announced, causing everyone to stare at him then in shock.

"How did you get this information?" Clint asked as he looked at the screen, seeing the names of each of the girl's parents.

"I hacked the Kremlin's files…" Tony stated, a little proudly.

"You hacked the Kremlin!?" Steve repeated, astounded at the lengths that Tony had gone to, to get answers for his team mates. Knowing full well if he was caught Tony would be facing major backlash.

"But my father never mentioned having a brother! If he knew Mikhail had a daughter...he would have taken Natasha in. He wouldn't leave her in an orphanage and let the Red Room take her." Eva said shocked and devastated. She felt like she had been lied to, by her own parents.

"With the age difference between you two, it's most likely that Natasha's mother would have been killed and her father captured before you were even born Eva. I suspect Mikhail tried to protect Natasha by not telling anyone about her existence… even his own brother. I would bet that Yuri never even knew Natasha existed." Tony said grimly.

"But why would he not tell his brother, even before her mother was killed? It doesn't make sense. All this time we were cousins and never even knew each other until now?" Eva asked sadly.

"HYDRA already had their hooks into both of your fathers, I guess the less that anyone knew about Natasha, the safer he thought she would be."

"Well that worked out well didn't it…" Natasha sighed.

"Yeah… I guess even the smartest of men get things wrong sometimes." Tony sighed. He didn't like that his team mates felt so betrayed by their own parents. He wished that there was something more he could do to help them. At least he had been able to give them some of the answers they were looking for.

Bucky held Eva's hand tightly while Clint held a shaken Natasha, her face was pale and her eyes were swimming with a mixture of emotions. Her entire world was crumbling around her. She could have protected Eva if she'd have known that she was her cousin. Eva had gone through the same ordeal as her in the Red Room and after Malia had been killed, she had been completely alone. They were probably at the Red Room at the same time when Natasha was a bit older, if she had have known she could have helped her. She felt a deep sense of hatred towards HYDRA. They had killed her mother and kidnapped her father. They killed Eva's parents too and had taken almost everything from them as children.

"Wow! That is a lot to take in." Steve said in shock. "Are you guys okay?" He asked looking toward Eva and Natasha.

"I'm happy that I have a cousin that I never knew about... but at the same time I feel like everything I ever knew about my family was a lie." Natasha replied a tear slipping from her eye. She quickly brushed it away, not wanting to show any weakness to the rest of the team. "I… I need a minute." She said as she quickly rushed from the room.

"Natasha!" Steve called after her, feeling bad that she was upset and hoping that he hadn't made her feel worse.

"Don't worry buddy. I got this." Clint said as he got up and followed after his partner.

"I hope she's okay." Eva sighed sadly.

"Are you?" Bucky asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I will be. It might take me a little time to process it. I mean, I've been under the thumb of HYDRA my whole life and I didn't even know it." She told him.

"I can't imagine how that must feel for you, but know that even though HYDRA have always been in your life, you have grown up to be one of the strongest and most amazing woman I have ever known." Bucky said as he kissed her forehead.

"I'm with Buck." Steve spoke up. "You have risen above all of this to become a very strong and loyal young woman. And we are all so grateful that you are a part of this team... this family."

"Thanks Steve." she replied with a small smile.

"Anytime, sis." Steve said with a comforting smile.

* * *

Natasha sat outside on the porch steps, feeling tears stream down her face as she silently cried for a while, unable to hold back the tears. Her Father and Uncle had been forced to work for HYDRA and then had both been ruthlessly murdered by the organisation when they tried to do the right thing.

Eva was her cousin.

The fact that Eva had gone through the same ordeal as her in the Red Room and she could have done something to help her if only she had have known made her feel sick. Then things had only gotten worse when Eva had been brainwashed twice and had her human leg bones removed and now had ones that were made out of metal. She had been experimented on countless times.

Natasha's hands balled up into fists of rage, they had lied to her all this time about having no family. The Red Room had always been affiliated with HYDRA so there was no doubt in her mind that they knew the two of them were cousins. They convinced her she had no one left in this world when she did in fact have family who needed her. Eva had needed help. She wished she could have helped Eva and stopped her from being turned into HYDRA's puppet.

"YOU BASTARDS!" She screamed enraged as she picked up a pistol and began to vent her rage. When she had emptied the clip into one of Clint's arrow targets she tossed her gun aside and rushed towards one of the sparring dummies lined up by the fence. She began to beat on it mercilessly. Blow after blow, strike after strike she hit it as hard as she could, releasing all her pain and anger within. She kept hitting it until her hands felt like they would break, when she slowly came to a stop that's when the tears began to flow again, running down her face like a raging river. There was no stopping them. All the emotions inside of her were like a whirlwind, she couldn't contain them anymore. Natasha fell to her knees and let out a scream of pain and desperation, never had she felt so confused, disappointed and abandoned in her life.

"Tasha!" Clint yelled as he ran towards her after seeing her fall to her knees. He slid to the ground next to her and pulled her into him, wrapping his strong arms tightly around her. She sobbed into his chest, letting everything pour out as he rubbed her back in comfort. "I'm here baby." He whispered gently as he kissed her head. "I'm here."

* * *

Later that day Eva and Bucky were in Clint's barn, using it as a makeshift training ground. They practiced their hand to hand combat, using each other to enhance their attacks. The different levels of the barn made it an ideal training ground.

Eva ran at Bucky as he stood below the empty hayloft, as she approached he held out his hands for her to plant her foot. When her foot was in place, he used the strength of his metal arm to their advantage and catapulted her into the air and she landed on the floor above them.

"Great work, babe." he commended as she jumped back down, the height not bothering her any with her vibranium leg bones. "I think if we can work together like this more during combat, we would stand a pretty good chance against anyone." He smiled.

They began to attack the sparring dummies they had set up, again using their teamwork to optimize their attacks. Eva had discovered a new power when she accidently used it on Bucky during a sparring session earlier. She could momentarily freeze an opponent just for a second or two, but it was long enough to gain the upper hand in a fight. So they practiced using it on a dummy that swung from the ceiling. As it glided through the air Eva used her powers to hold it in place for a brief moment and Bucky came rushing in, jumping into the air and connecting a flying punch right in the centre of the dummy with his metal arm. He hit it so hard that the force snapped the ropes holding it and the dummy flew across the barn, crashing into the wall.

"Wow." Eva smiled.

"This is a great new power Eva. We are definitely using this in combat." Bucky told her as he peeled of his t-shirt. He was really working up a sweat during the training session. Eva couldn't help but admire his body. The way his muscles flexed as he struck the sparring dummy. Bucky turned to look at her, wondering why she had stopped training, to find her eyeing him. "Like what you see babe?" he grinned cockily.

"Maybe." Eva teased with a grin as they started training again, delivering blows, kicks and hits as they fought each other. Eva kicked him in the side, knocking him down when he grabbed her and pinned her onto the cushioned blue mat that they were practising on. His breathing was heavy and he could feel the sweat coming off him but Eva didn't seem to mind as he leaned down and kissed her. Eva wrapped her arms around his neck, letting out a soft little moan at the feel of his lips against hers. As he stood up he helped her up with him, before she pinned him to the wall. She took the opportunity to run her fingers over his muscled chest then as his hand went under her tank top. She pulled it off, leaving her only in a black sports bra and Bucky growled lowly and he pushed his right leg in between her thighs. She loved it when he got feral with her.

Bucky flipped her around and pulled her to the ground with him, landing on his back with her on top before he quickly rolled and pinned her to the floor again. "I love you." Bucky growled, running his flesh hand over her face tenderly as she smiled up at him.

"I love you too, you scared me earlier when Yelena blasted you." Eva admitted quietly, showing some fear.

"It would take a lot more than a fight with a bitch like her to ever take me away from you babe." He whispered reassuringly as he leaned in and kissed her again, his metal arm holding his weight off of her. "I promise you that."

"I'll hold you to that James." She smiled. Before he had time to react, Eva pushed on his arm, buckling it and causing him to drop down before she swiftly rolled him onto his back. Sitting on top of him she giggled at the look of shock on his face, which quickly turned to a smile.

"I love it when you do that." He chuckled as his hands went to her hips.

"I know you do... that's why I love doing it." Eva laughed as she leaned in and kissed him hungrily, caressing the muscles on his chest. Before reaching down to the button on his pants.

"You serious?" He questioned, looking at her a little puzzled and shocked at how brave she was being.

"Deadly." She replied with a wicked grin as she undid the zip on his black cargos. Bucky growled low and feral in his throat, as he leaned over her and buried his face into her neck. Eva smiled and arched her back as he kissed down her neck again. She could feel his aching hard on through his pants, the want clearly there. All she had to do was take it.

He pulled away, looking down at her. She smiled and blushed under his stare. His gazes always felt like he was examining every part of her. It made her feel loved and wanted but extremely vulnerable at the same time. She turned her head away, but he turned her back to him quickly.

"Don't hide, sweetheart," he said quietly before sitting back and pulling her up with him. He kissed her lips again before his hands expertly removed her bra. She moaned as they travel to her breasts, and cupped them in his hands. He always made her feel so good. His fingers knew exactly what to do, and when he sunk his mouth down to take one of her nipples into his mouth, his tongue was giving her just as much pleasure. It was like years of pent up sexual fantasies all compiled into one body.

"James," she whispered. "Oh my god, please." His mouth moved to the other, while she travelled her hands back down to his pants. She needed them off. She needed them gone. He pulled away after a moment, both of them breathing heavily, and his hands go to where she was itching to get. He undid the zip, and pulled them down, revealing his boxers and the obvious hard-on beneath them. She jumped at him then, knocking him onto his back. Bucky looked up at her, surprised, but shut up as soon as her lips attached to his, and her little hips started to grind against his unbelievable hard dick. He groaned loudly into her mouth. God, just the friction was enough for him. If she kept this up too long he would explode. The air around them crackled with sexual energy.

Bucky wrapped his arms around her tightly with a growl before nuzzling her neck and placing kisses on her throat. He undid the clasp of her bra and tossed it aside as she wriggled out of her pants. His lips lowered and he sucked her right nipple, growling at the feel of her soft, sweet skin against his tongue. Bucky took the moment to flip her over so that he was on top of her again. He then slid his human hand over her lower body, feeling her arch into his touch, while his metal hand cupped and kneaded her aching breasts. God, they fit his hands perfectly.

He placed his hands on her panties, noting that she had already soaked through the fabric. Bucky growled with desire before pulling her panties off with his metal hand, admiring her naked body and he grunted when he felt her hands slide into his boxers and wrap around his hard cock.

"Fuck, Eva," Bucky rasped hoarsely as he kissed her long and passionately. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight grip, crying out softly when he slid a finger inside of her tight wet heat. Eva squirmed against his touch, gasping heavily at the pleasure he was giving her. Bucky watched quietly before he found her throbbing nub, and began stroking her. She whimpered quietly at his touch. Bucky could feel the Winter Soldier side of him wanting to come out and claim the beautiful young woman in his arms. Even if Alexander Pierce, the man who had controlled him was gone, the instincts of the man he helped to create remained, and it was strong and feral. He growled lowly once more, trying to shake away that side of him, not trusting that he could be gentle enough with her if he let that side out.

Eva kissed him tenderly.

"It's alright, James. I trust you," Eva whispered softly, sensing his turmoil. He looked deeply at her and trust shone in her dark blue eyes as they sparkled with love and desire. He kissed her hard, and cupped her face in his metal hand.

"You trust me?" He questioned.

"More than anyone." She whispered in response.

"Ready?" He asked as he lined himself up with her entrance. She nodded in reply and gently he pushed himself into her. Eva gasped in pleasure as Bucky buried himself inside of her.

"Oh god James." She sighed.

As he began to thrust slowly in and out of her she couldn't stop the soft moans that escaped her lips. Her sounds of pleasure only fuelling his desire even more. The feel of her soft skin, covered in a light sheen of sweat trapped beneath his muscular body was addictive. He kissed her passionately, with all the love and burning desire he held within. He could never get enough of this woman. Every touch, every kiss only left him wanting more and more.

"Harder James." She panted somewhat impatiently.

"Anything for you my love." he complied and began to thrust harder and deeper into her, enjoying the quiet screams he received in response.

He felt Eva wrap her arms around him as he thrusted into her slightly harder, her breathing heavy and felt her nails dig into his shoulders. Bucky growled as he felt Eva tighten around him slightly and thrusted into her like a wild wolf in heat, enjoying the way her nails scratched at his skin. She moaned his name softly and he buried his face into her neck. He loved her so much. Eva meant so much to him, he wouldn't let anyone hurt her while he was around. He thrusted a little harder into her then with a growl as Eve kissed him passionately.

He held her tightly against him as he thrusted into her and groaned as he felt her coming closer to the edge. He could see her breathing getting lighter as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"I love you, Eva, my vozlyublennaya." Bucky whispered roughly, his metal hand cupping and kneading her breast while his flesh and blood hand rubbed her throbbing clit, bringing her closer to climax. Eva could feel herself coming closer and she loved hearing Bucky speaking in Russian, she found it sexy so whenever they were alone in their bedroom, Bucky would talk to her in her native language.

"I love you too, James, zvezda moya." Eva whispered tenderly, brushing the strands of dark brown hair away from his face lovingly then, his grey eyes meeting hers.

As Bucky continued to thrust harder and deeper into her, his low grunts and growls only brought her closer to the edge of orgasm. She loved the gravelly tone to his voice when he got all primal with her, it was so sexy. As she neared her peak of pleasure her body began to shake with excitement and anticipation. Her walls began to tighten around his hard cock and he growled with pleasure at the feel of her tight wet heat.

"You gonna come for me baby?" He growled lowly, earning yet another moan of pleasure from her.

"Oh god... James." She panted as her body shuddered violently.

"That's it... c'mon babe." He encouraged as he kept up his steady rhythm.

"Fuck..." She replied in a breathy moan before she screamed out his name in pleasure as an orgasm washed over her. She continued to moan as Bucky kept going, drawing out her orgasm for as long as he could. He wanted Eva to feel all the pleasure he could possibly give her. He felt himself start to get close, he knew he was going to come any moment. Bucky devoured her lips in a desperate and passionate kiss as he thrust harder and deeper into a few more times before he emptied himself inside of her with a primal growl.

"Holy shit..." He panted with pleasure.

"That was amazing." Eva agreed.

"Definitely. We should have barn sex more often." Bucky laughed as he held onto her tightly, their sweaty bodies entangled together. Eva curled into him, not minding in the least when her right side was pressed up against his cybernetic arm, she loved all of him and that included the parts of him that were Winter Soldier.

"I love you." Eva said softly and Bucky responded by kissing her softly but tenderly, causing her body to curl up in pleasure. When he pulled his lips away, he nuzzled her neck tenderly and brushed away her blonde bangs.

"I love you too, doll." Bucky said quietly but meaningfully and they both got dressed before anyone walked in on them, he held her close and kissed her once more as he breathed in her scent. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her, not while he lived.

* * *

Later that night, the team were going over any information they had when Rhodey contacted Tony via video chat and gave him some bad news then concerning the nuclear weapons they had been searching for.

"Those nukes were originally stolen from Russia a year ago from a warehouse in Stalingrad. The government weren't keen on telling anyone because of the fact that one of them were being kept in the outskirts of Pripyat." Rhodey said grimly.

"You mean the city where the Chernobyl disaster happened?" Natasha asked alarmed at what she was hearing.

"Yeah, no one is allowed to go there, it's completely off limits. Not even animals go there either...it's a wasteland. I'm sending you some satellite images as well as some surveillance photos." Rhodey informed them and they saw a map appear on the laptop screen then, followed by some photos.

"Look who's there, next to Belova and Rumlow." Fury said grimly.

Everyone looked at the map and stared in shock.

It was the US Home Secretary...Thaddeus Ross.

"Son of a bitch!" Steve said angrily, shocking everyone by cursing.

* * *

 **Russian Translations:**

 **Zvezda moya: My Star**

 **Vozlyublennaya: Sweetheart**

* * *

 _Review and enjoy :)_


	17. Hold Onto Your Life

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 17

* * *

When the team turned in for the night, Clint walked into his room to find Natasha sitting on the end of the bed, deep in thought. As he approached she looked up at him, her eyes glossy with unshed tears.

"Hey babe... you wanna talk about it?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"I don't even know what to say, or where to begin..." she sighed as she fought back her tears

"It's okay. Just let it all out." He told her, recognizing that she was only holding on by a thread.

"I feel like... like my whole life has just been one big lie. HYDRA has been in my life… controlling my life since before I can even remember. And Eva... she's my cousin. If I had have known... I could have done something. Back in the Red Room, I could have helped her Clint. Maybe she wouldn't be in the position she is now if..." She sobbed.

"Hey... hey this is not your fault Tasha." He whispered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Then why do I feel so guilty?"

"Because you're human. You are programmed to want to help people. Especially family and those you love. It's part of who you are."

"I should have seen it. I should have known that HYDRA was behind everything."

"No one could have seen that coming babe."

"I just wish things could have been different. My whole life I have been lied to. Everything I thought I knew about my parents was a lie. Any constant in my life has been a lie. My family, The Red Room… SHIELD. I just don't know what to think anymore. Or what to feel." She cried as the tears flowed down her cheeks. "I feel so betrayed."

"It's ok... come here." He said as he pulled her into his chest and held her tight. "I know that things seem really crazy right now, and that this is a lot for you to take in. But I have always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Even the bad things. And if you are strong, which I know that you are, you can overcome the bad. And you have before Tasha. You have been through so much, and you are such an amazing person for having come through it all a better and stronger person. It might seem that everything in your life has been a lie, but I can promise you that I am your one truth. I am the constant that you can rely on. I have never lied to you and I never will. I love you, and I am here for you no matter where this crazy life takes us. I need you to know that Tasha." He told her reassuringly.

"I don't know where I would be without you Clint." She whispered as she clutched at his shirt. "You saved me from the Red Room, from HYDRA... and from myself. Words could never express how much that means to me. How much you mean to me."

"I know that all the things you have been through were horrible, but I can't help but think that if you never went down that road, we never would have crossed paths. My life would be so empty and meaningless without you."

"In a way I am glad to have gone through what I did. If it meant that it led me to you, then it was all worth it in the end." Natasha confessed.

"I promise that you will get through this, just like you have everything else that has been thrown your way. And I will help you. I will be here every step of the way. Anything you need, all you have to do is give the word and I will make it happen. I would move mountains for you. I would take a bullet for you, and I would die for you." Clint told her seriously.

"I love you Clint, more than anything in this world. More than I ever thought I could love." She said, sat in his warm and protective embrace, letting her tears flow freely until she couldn't cry any more. She felt better for having gotten it off her chest. "Thank you." Natasha whispered and Clint simply responded by holding her tightly to him.

"You never have to thank me babe, I'm always gonna by your side Tasha, always." Clint promised and she curled into him and held onto him tightly. He rubbed her back gently, as he felt her breathing slow back down and her quiet sobs begin to fade.

* * *

Bucky held a gentle hand on Eva's back as she slept. It had been a rough day on all of them. He kissed her cheek gently, before feeling her curl into him. It had been a long day and he was so exhausted. Just when they thought things couldn't get any worse with HYDRA they find out that Thaddeus Ross is involved with them. No wonder he was trying so hard to capture them. Plus they still had the nuclear bombs to worry about. This was just great.

 _'Do you think Natasha is ok?'_ Eva asked telepathically and Bucky responded by holding her tighter.

 _'She'll be fine, doll. Natasha's...just shocked and upset, she probably feels guilty and upset for not being there to protect you.'_ Bucky reassured her comfortingly.

 _'She shouldn't feel guilty. Neither of us even knew we were related.'_

 _'I know babe. But you know Natasha. She is a protector and she would do anything for_ _anyone in this team, and I'm sure it would be the same for anyone who was her blood. Maybe you could talk to her about it tomorrow. Make sure she understands how you feel, and help her through her feelings of guilt.'_

 _'I will do that.'  
_  
 _'Get some rest my love.'_ He replied mentally as he kissed her sweetly and held her close, wrapping his arms around her in a strong embrace.

* * *

The following morning as the team sat down to breakfast Tony came rushing in all panicked. "I think I've worked it out!" He stated alarmed.

"Worked what out Tony?" Steve asked a little confused.

"The nukes... the attack... the pending end of the world." He replied.

"Tony... take a breath." Pepper told him as she put a comforting hand on his chest.

He took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts before speaking again. "The blueprints that Sam and I found, I figured out what building they belong to. And at first I couldn't figure out why HYDRA would be interested in it, but then I talked to Rhodey and he told me that the General of the Air Force has some fancy dinner there tonight, and all kinds of important people from all over the country and the world are attending."

"Oh god." Steve replied horrified. "HYDRA are going to set off one of the nukes there, taking out this country's biggest leaders, not to mention other important people from all over the world. This is bad..."

"Now we know what Yelena was talking about when she said HYDRA are going to take over the world." Eva said darkly.

"We won't let that happen." Natasha said determinedly.

"I'm going to contact Fury. He needs to know about this right away." Sharon said as she began to dial his number and left the room.

"Who exactly will be there?" Sam asked concerned and Tony hacked his way into the buildings files and brought up the guest list, staring in horror. He couldn't believe what he was reading, and he swallowed worriedly before he spoke.

"The Israeli Ambassador and his attaché are attending. President Ellis, along with all the heads of the US Militaries. Not to mention the Kremlin, Chief of Staff and the UK Prime Minister along with the UK army officials. It's a dinner and meeting to discuss world peace and stopping terror attacks, that's why they want nukes from Russia." Tony said horrified.

"HYDRA will start a war, no one would believe that Russia didn't have anything to do with it. They were in Ukraine a year ago and that would make it seem like they planned it aligning with Germany." Bucky said grimly.

"How do we even get inside to stop this? Or better yet, we need to warn the President about what's going on. President Ellis is going to be there and...Oh Christ, what's the date today?" Steve asked alarmed.

"January the twenty seventh, it's the same day the Allied Forces liberated Auschwitz and rescued the people who were prisoners there." Eva told them as they saw Sharon hurry in. She put Fury on speaker.

"How bad is the situation, agents?" The man asked grimly.

"It's bad Fury, we believe HYDRA's planning on detonating nukes on Russia, Israel, the UK and US, starting by bombing this state dinner." Steve said gravely.

"And Thaddeus Ross is on the guest list too." Tony spoke up in disgust.

"So that's how they are getting a bomb in... Ross. That traitorous bastard!" Bucky growled.

"We need to come up with a plan and fast. Fury... can you get us in?" Steve asked urgently.

"I'll make some calls, under the radar. See what I can do. But you all need to avoid Ross as much as you can. He still wants your heads on a chopping block, and he will stop at nothing to discredit you all. Stay sharp. I'll get back to you soon." Fury stated.

After the director hung up, the whole team just stared grimly at one another. They were in for the fight of their lives. The fate of the entire world now rested upon their shoulders.

"Ok team, we need to go over every inch of those blueprints and find our best points of entry and exit. Clint and Natasha, I think you two should go in undercover, seeing as you both have the most training in how to be spies. I want you to try and plant a tracker and mic on Ross as discreetly as possible. We also want to put one on his car, Eva and Bucky can take care of that and then meet us inside. I want to know where he's going and I want to know who he is talking to. We will turn the building upside down looking for any bombs or HYDRA operatives.

"We're on it." Natasha said confidently and Clint nodded as they both went to get changed while Tony and Pepper looked at the blueprints along with Sam.

"Ok there's a train station opposite the building and there's a drive through entrance, the building has twenty levels and a lot of air vents." Sam said grimly.

"So the nuclear bombs could be anywhere in the building and ready to go off at any minute...or on the train." Eva said worriedly and they all nodded gravely.

"Alright let's get to work." Tony said finally and they all nodded as they got ready to leave.

* * *

They all went in separate vehicles, Clint and Natasha took the quinjet, while Bucky and Eva took his motorcycle. As they entered the underground parking, they put a tracking device underneath Ross' car, before meeting Tony, Pepper and Sam in the basement with Steve and Sharon.

They had coms on to keep in contact with Clint and Natasha, they were both inside the building keeping a low profile and were watching Ross as he and the US president William Ellis spoke to other foreign officials.

"He's talking to a German guy by the name of Adolf Bambach, they seem pretty cosy. And there's another guy who's Russian, his name's Vasily Karpov. He's a former member of the Soviet Union Army." Natasha spoke quickly and discreetly through her comms, while she and Clint danced across the ballroom, blending in with the crowd.

"Hold up, some woman's joined them now and she's speaking Russian." Clint said grimly.

"She's saying, the time is near. Soon Russia, Israel and the US will be on their knees and HYDRA will reign." Natasha said darkly and Tony's face darkened as he heard those words.

"Over my dead body, my parents died because of those bastards, Eva and Natasha lost everything because of them and Bucky got turned in a killing machine." Tony growled angrily.

Pepper rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "It's ok Tony, you guys will stop them. There's no way anyone on this team is going to let this happen" Pepper reassured him.

"Pepper's right. We are going to take these bastards down." Sharon said adamantly.

"Aahh guys, it looks like Ross and the others are either heading to a private room or making their exit through the back way" Clint informed the team. "Any luck finding the bomb yet?" he asked.

"Nothing here." Steve said as he and Sharon cleared the train.

"Neither any here." Tony added grimly as he, and Pepper and Sam finished sweeping the building across the road."

"I think we might have something." Bucky spoke through his comms.

"What's your position Buck, we'll come to you." Steve said, and as Bucky began to relay his position in the building that the peace talk was held in to the rest of the team and they quickly made their way there.

"Clint, Natasha, I want you to try and follow Ross and the others. Don't let them out of your sight." Steve commanded.

"You got it Cap." Natasha replied as her and Clint made their way across the room and slipped through the same door the others had left through. They followed Ross and the others down a long hall which led to the garage and they watched as the four spoke again quietly while the two spies hid behind a nearby car.

"Any luck finding the Avengers?" Ross asked annoyed as he looked at one of his soldiers then intently.

"No luck so far but we did get a report of them being spotted in Washington DC." The soldier replied and Ross nodded before he got into his car and drove off. Quickly followed by the rest of the people he had been talking with.

Clint and Natasha quickly got into a car to follow after Ross, Tony telling them which direction Ross was going in, when the car was suddenly slammed into from behind, before they had even made it a few metres.

"Looks like someone spotted us." Natasha said grimly as they heard someone jump on the car and smash through the windshield. Clint tried to shake her off and slammed on the break. The woman was sent flying backwards and that was when they saw the short bob of dark blonde curls, the woman glared at them then in anger.

It was Yelena but how? Eva had killed her.

"What the hell!?" Natasha exclaimed in shock.

"Come now Natalia, you really thought your whore of a cousin could defeat me? I expected better from you!" The woman taunted cruelly and paused. "It was sad in a way, seeing your cousin crying over that pathetic Malia Alikaev, but Malia got too close to the truth and as for Madame B...she was too soft on you two. Once I kill you and your whole team of Avengers, Evangeline will have no one and I'll make sure Von Strucker treats her properly, as well as her lover. Who knows? Maybe dear Sergeant Barnes will remember her when they are finished with him...that's if he doesn't die first." Yelena taunted cruelly.

"You killed Malia because she found out the truth, that me and Eva were cousins?!" Natasha screamed enraged.

"I had to, you were already making a name for yourself in the assassination and spy underworld. Malia was going to risk that by informing you of the fact that you had family, so I took her out and made sure Eva had no one." Yelena said causally as if she wasn't just describing how she had murdered Eva's best friend.

"How are you alive? Eva kicked your ass. She broke your neck?" Clint growled angrily.

Yelena smirked and tapped at her head.

"HYDRA had a backup plans in place, cut off one head...and two more shall take its place. Come now Barton, hand over Natalia and I'll spare you." Yelena reasoned calmly.

"Bitch you will have to kill me before I so much as let you touch her. And her name is Natasha. It's about time you bitches understood that." Clint said angrily through gritted teeth.

"So be it, you won't be much of a challenge anyway." She laughed cockily.

"Guys... its Yelena. We are gonna need some help down here." Natasha spoke through her comms to the others.

"How the hell?" Came Eva's voice through the ear piece. "On our way, hold on Nat."

* * *

Yelena rushed at Clint, attempting to strike him in the face, but he ducked her attack and smacked her across the back with his bow, before following up with a kick to the back of her legs.

"You're faster than you look Agent Barton, but you are still no match for me." she grinned evilly as she shot out her hands and blasted him with a jolt of electrical energy, sending him flying across the carpark, slamming into a parked SUV before slumping to the ground.

"You psychotic bitch! Just die already!" Natasha yelled as she lunged for Yelena, grabbing onto her and spinning herself around the woman before throwing her to the ground. She wrapped her legs around Yelena's neck and began to choke the life out of her. But Yelena had other plans, she blasted Natasha with blue lightening that shot from her hands, forcing her to release her hold as her body began to seize.

"Natasha!" Clint yelled as he pulled himself up from the ground. Pulling out an arrow he fired it straight for Yelena, burying it deep into her arm. She looked at him smugly as she pulled it right out of her arm and tossed it aside like it was nothing, before sending another wave of lightening at him, sending him hurtling backwards. She held the attack and watched in pleasure as Clint's body convulsed uncontrollably on the ground.

She kept going until Natasha caught her off guard burying her combat knife deep within her stomach before wrenching it upwards giving her a nasty wound. Yelena grabbed her by the throat and lifted her in the air. "Oh Natalia... you will regret that!" She spat as her powers began to flow through her hand through to Natasha, electrocuting her as she struggled for air.

"Nat!" Eva screamed as she and Bucky entered the garage to find Yelena had her cousin by the throat. "Let her go!" she yelled as she mustered all the energy she could and blasted Yelena with a massive hex bolt. Yelena hit the wall hard, leaving a large dent. But she quickly got back up and blasted her powers at Eva who threw up a purple shield to protect herself and her friends. Yelena threw an almighty blast of blue lightening at her, catching Eva off guard and it caused her to cry out in pain. Her shield dropped momentarily and Yelena did something that caused Eva to clutch her head in pain.

"Eva!" Natasha cried alarmed and raced over, only to encounter two enhanced agents, a man and a woman who both glared at her as Eva managed to fight off her attack to blast at Yelena again.

Steve, Tony, Sam, Sharon and to everyone's shock, Pepper joined the battle as Tony had built Pepper a suit called RESCUE. Yelena turned to attack them, when Eva grabbed her by the throat and started strangling her. When someone began to fire an automatic rifle at them. Eva threw up a large shield that took on the appearance of a phoenix and it roared as it protected Eva and her teammates. She kept up the shield as long as she could frantically trying to protect everyone.

"YOUR'E TOO LATE, YOU STUPID BITCH!" Yelena sneered as one of the other Red Room operatives fired at them with a rocket launcher. The whole team took cover as best they could. Natasha helping Bucky drag an exhausted and drained Eva to safety. That was when he and Natasha saw that their hands were bloody, but it wasn't their blood.

It was Eva's.

"Oh god... Eva." Bucky gasped as he noticed a large piece of debris stuck in her abdomen. Eva screamed in pain as she looked down at her wound. "You're okay baby, you're gonna be okay I promise." Bucky tried to reassure her.

"What do we do!?" Bucky asked Natasha in a panicked whisper as he tried to survey the wound closer.

"Don't!" Natasha shouted as he put his hand near the chunk of debris in her wound. "We don't know what its hit. If we touch it, if we try to remove it she might bleed out." She told him.

"Right... of course." Bucky agreed, struggling to think clearly.

* * *

A beaten up looking Clint appeared next to them and was shocked to see Eva's state. "We need to get her to the quinjet... now!" Clint said urgently.

"Rogers..." Natasha spoke through her comms. "Eva is hurt really bad, we have to get her out of here... do you copy?" She said, unsure where everyone ended up after the rocket launcher blast.

"Copy that." came a crackled reply.

"We are heading to the quinjet, Ross got away, and looks like Yelena did too." She informed him.

"Sam and Tony found the bomb and dismantled it. We evacuated the building before all hell broke loose. Get Eva to safety, the rest of us will try and track down Ross and Belkova. Meet you back at the safe house."

"Copy." Natasha replied before turning back to the others. "We need a makeshift stretcher."

"How about this?" Clint asked, holding up what looked like the backseat of a car.

"Perfect. Right, on three we lift her gently. One... two... three, lift." Natasha instructed.

As they got Eva onto the seat they carried her out of the partially mangled building and out onto the street where Natasha commandeered a car. They got her into the back with Bucky and hightailed it for the quinjet.

"Hold on Eva... just hold on baby. You're gonna be just fine. I won't let them take you from me. I won't let you die." Bucky whispered as tears began to stream down his face.

* * *

 _Will Eva survive? Enjoy and review :)_


	18. More Discoveries

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 18

* * *

"Love...love you...promise me something?" Eva said weakly, her face had turned white and her suit was soaked in blood. Bucky gripped her hand tightly in worry.

"Anything doll, anything." Bucky said quickly as Eva held on to him tightly.

"This isn't your fault, I love you and I want you… to look after...Nat. If I die...I don't want her thinking that it was her fault." Eva said strongly, gripping onto his hand.

"I promise I will but you aren't dying doll, you're gonna be fine." Bucky insisted and kissed her forehead as they reached the ranch and carried her off the quinjet and quickly inside.

Luckily the others had just pulled up as Bucky tried to keep her awake and stop the bleeding as much as he could with help from Clint and Natasha. Sharon barked out orders as she surveyed the damage to Eva's wound, it was right above the tissue which was her womb and they needed to get it out.

"We need an IV sedation and we need to get this out of her, Eva keep on talking to me." Sharon encouraged and Eva nodded.

"Did you find the bombs?" She asked weakly, her hand gripping onto Bucky tightly as Sharon inserted an IV drip. When they escaped from the Avengers tower she made sure to grab some medical supplies from the labs, knowing full well they were in for a fight over the next few weeks, maybe even months.

"We found the one that was in the building but no luck on finding the others, what's your blood type?" Sharon asked gently and Eva swallowed then.

"O positive." She said weakly.

"I need people who are O positive!"'

"I'm O positive. Take mine." Natasha said quickly as she desperately unzipped her uniform and pulled an arm free for Sharon to put a needle in.

With the help of Pepper, Bucky and Steve, Sharon did her best to stabilize Eva as much as possible and set up a blood transfusion from Natasha. Once that was done she began to inspect the wound, mopping away as much blood as she could with gauze she opened up the wound for a better look.

"I see where the blood is coming from. The debris has pierced the inferior mesenteric artery, we need to stop the bleeding and fast. Luckily the debris has slowed the flow of blood, but once we remove it we have to work very quickly. I'm going to need an extra pair of hands... Pepper can I have you here please?" Sharon said as Bucky held onto one hand and Natasha held Eva's other hand. Steve was down the other end, gently holding her legs, making sure she didn't move around. Sharon had drugged her so she couldn't feel any pain, but she didn't want to knock her out during the surgery so she could better monitor her situation. So she had just been lightly sedated so that she wasn't aware what was going on, but still responsive and able to move.

"Ok Pepper, when I say… gently pull out the piece of the debris. On three..." Sharon instructed.

"Are you sure about this?" Pepper asked worriedly.

"Positive." Sharon told her. "One, two... three." She counted and Pepper gently removed the debris from Eva's stomach as Sharon clamped the artery.

"Great work Pepper. You're doing fine." Sharon reassured her, noticing her friend was looking a little sick and scared. "Now I need you to hold this clamp for me okay? I need to stitch up this artery as quickly as possible."

"Ok... I got it." Pepper replied as she took the clamp from Sharon, her hands a little shaky.

"How are you doing over there Natasha?" Sharon asked looking towards the red head who looked very worried about her cousin. Clint was by her side, holding her close and reassuring her that everything was going to be ok.

"I'm ok, just please... please don't let her die." Natasha begged.

"No one is dying today." Sharon said determinedly.

"Ok Pepper, hold that tight and steady okay. I'm going to begin stitching." She said as she mopped away more of the blood with some gauze. After a few tense minutes Sharon breathed a sigh of relief and announced that the artery had been repaired. She instructed Pepper to carefully release the clamps and kept an eye on it for a few minutes to ensure the stitches held.

"Right, everything is looking good. We need to stitch up this wound. How are you holding up Pepper?" She asked.

"I'm good. I can do this." She replied confidently.

"Great I need you to hold this and keep the skin pulled close together." Sharon told her handing her another surgical tool, and then she began to stitch up the wound. Once she was done she administered an antibiotic to prevent any infections, and stopped the IV sedation so that Eva would slowly return to normal.

"Ok Natasha, I'm going to take this out now." Sharon told her as she gently took her arm.

"Wait, are you sure she's got enough? She lost a lot of blood." Natasha said worriedly.

"Time will tell. But we can't take too much from you. Give it some time, if she needs some more you can give her some more later ok." Sharon promised as she took the needle out of her arm. "You should get some rest."

"C'mon babe, I'll take you to the bedroom." Clint urged.

"No... I want to stay with Eva." Natasha said firmly.

"Ok. I'll wait with you." He told her as he held her close and they looked over at Bucky who was gently stroking Eva's hair as he held her hand tightly, the worry evident in his face. Natasha studied Eva's face, it was peaceful and completely at ease even though there was dust and dirt on her from where the explosion had gone off. Her eyes were open but it seemed like she was in a trance, unaware of all that was going on around her. Eva had willingly risked her life to save her and the others, Natasha took her hand again gently. A light squeeze was felt and Bucky looked down at the hand he was holding, he felt a gentle squeeze and he held it back tightly, kissing the side of her forehead tenderly. The sedative was beginning to wear off.

The three of them sat in silent vigil for Eva, waiting for her to wake up as they heard Tony and Sam arriving, they had brought back Bucky's motorcycle.

"You're gonna be alright, Eva." Bucky whispered firmly, he held her tightly and fought back tears. He couldn't handle the thought of Eva dying like this.

"I may not know Eva as well you two but she's a fighter and she'll be just fine." Clint said confidently and Natasha nodded as did Bucky.

"I'm so sorry Eva, I'm sorry that I didn't protect you when you were in the Red Room. I wish I had have known you in there, more so I wish I had have known you were my cousin. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you lost Malia to Yelena, I'm so sorry that I didn't help you when the Red Room severed ties with you when you killed that HYDRA scientist. Most of all, I'm sorry that I didn't save you when you got left behind and when...when you got hit by that piece of wood. But I'm going to look after you, I might not be perfect but I'm going to make sure that I'm the cousin you deserve Eva." Natasha promised firmly, uncaring that tears were streaming down her cheeks while Clint and Bucky listened in silence

At that moment, Eva groaned slightly and turned her head to look at Natasha, her eyes still a little unfocussed. She then turned to look at Bucky, and as the sedation wore of and she realised where she was and who she was looking at, she smiled.

"Hey guys." She whispered softly, causing the three to stare in shock and relief. Clint went to get the others and Tony, Pepper, Sam, Steve and Sharon all came in to see how their team mate was doing.

"Well Christ, Eva you've been through the wars along with Natasha, you two should be called the Walking Wounded." Tony joked, causing Eva to laugh along with the others but she grimaced when she felt her left side sting.

"What happened?" She asked confused, unable to remember the events of the day.

"Yelena played dirty, but we managed to stop one of the bombs but we're missing six more. So we have an enhanced army with vibranium androids, along with Russian and German spies working with HYDRA who wanna create World War III." Tony said dramatically.

Silence followed.

"You should be on the ten PM news, they'd love you." Sam chuckled.

Eva began giggling, Natasha snorted and started laughing before Bucky and Clint joined in. Everyone began laughing then.

"We needed that." Steve said finally.

* * *

Later that night the team were all resting up, but Steve couldn't stop his mind from wandering to HYDRA and their plan for the world. Sure he had gone up against them once before, and won... mostly. But this time it was different. This time the threat of taking over the whole world seemed so much more real. It wasn't often that Steve felt scared, but now, he was pretty terrified.

He and Sharon had just began to build a relationship, and the thought that it could be all torn away in a single moment by HYDRA worried him. He had lost his chance with Peggy all those years ago, he didn't want to make the same mistakes now with Sharon.

Steve stood quietly at the window staring off into the distance, the moon shining down on him, it's cool blue light showing the definition in his muscular chest. Sharon admired him from the doorway, who ever thought she would be dating Captain America? She quietly walked over to him and placed a hand on his forearm, bringing him out of his daze. "Everything okay Steve?" she asked softly.

"Yeah... yeah, just got a lot on my mind I guess"

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I dunno... I'm just worried. I've faced HYDRA before, but this time it seems so much more real, so much scarier." He confessed.

"Well we know that they have multiple nuclear weapons, which is terrifying. It's okay to be scared Steve."

"But I'm supposed to be Captain America... the fearless leader" he laughed dryly.

"We all look up to you Steve, but we all understand that you are human, just like the rest of us. A little different... but still human" she smiled.

"Different?" he questioned with a smile.

"A good kind of different." She reassured him as she placed her hand on his chest. She could feel the rapid beat of his heart beneath his skin. Steve leaned in a kissed her lips softly before giving her a warm smile.

"Thank you."

"No thanks needed." She smiled in return. "But I would gladly accept another kiss..."

"Yes Ma'am." Steve chuckled as he leaned in once more and pressed his lips against hers.

Sharon smiled at him brightly as Steve held her tight and kissed her again.

They would be alright.

* * *

Bucky woke up to see Eva trying to sit up and look at her wound, he quietly came over and helped her sit up as he pulled her t - shirt up and they saw the wound was healing up nicely.

If it had gone any deeper, or torn right through the artery...Eva would have bled out before they could have saved her. He rested his forehead against hers and she leaned into him, knowing he needed to feel her against him.

"I'm right here James, I'm not leaving you." Eva said comfortingly and Bucky buried his face into her neck then, breathing in the scent of her floral shampoo and conditioner.

"I thought I lost you, I thought you would go and I was wondering what I'd do...but I know what I would have done." Bucky said darkly and held her tightly.

"What would you have done, James?" Eva asked quietly but there isn't any judgement in her voice though, only understanding.

"I would have gone after Ross, Yelena, Karpov and anyone else who was HYDRA and put bullets in their bodies or used my knife...The Winter Soldier was angry. I just couldn't see living without you, Eva." Bucky admitted.

Eva hugged him and kissed him.

"We will beat HYDRA James... I know it. And when we do, you and I can have a normal life. We can put all of this behind us and be truly happy." She told him.

"I want that more than anything in this world Eva." He smiled. "Get some rest sweetheart, you've been through a lot." He whispered as he stroked her cheek affectionately. Eva laid back down and looked at her lover intently before closing her eyes and slowly drifting back off to sleep.

"You scared the hell out of me Eva. I love you so much and I would so anything to protect you." Bucky whispered quietly as he held onto her hand, too afraid to let go. He had almost lost her, he had felt so helpless and empty at the thought of being without her, and he never wanted to feel that again.

* * *

"You okay?" Clint asked as he rubbed Natasha's shoulders, the spray of hot water from the shower raining down on them.

"Yeah... I'm good." She replied. "Just worried about Eva. She almost died today. I only just found out that she is my family and HYDRA nearly took her from me... again." She said, sounding a little defeated.

"But she's okay. She's a fighter, just like you. She's gonna be just fine." Clint reassured her.

"She is" Natasha agreed. "Clint..." She began as she turned her head to look at him.

"Yeah babe?"

"I love you." She smiled.

"I love you more." He grinned in happiness.

"Not possible." She chuckled as she pressed her lips against his for a sweet kiss. "You're my rock. I couldn't have made it through everything without you."

"And you are mine. The thought of you is what gets me through every fight. You are what keeps me going. You are my light in the darkness that is this war with HYDRA." He said as he held her tight, letting the warm water wash away the events of the day.

"You did amazing today Pep." Tony smiled as he gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you. You were so brave, being out there with us in the fight. Not to mention you helped Sharon save Eva's life."

"I'm proud of you too, Tony. I guess we have both come a long way." Pepper said lovingly and hugged him tightly. They worked to fix up their suits for the upcoming battle, Tony's was slightly damaged when the building collapsed and they were still modifying Pepper's to find the ways in which it best worked for her.

* * *

The next few days were spent keeping a low profile, while trying to figure out where the rest of the nuclear bombs were as Eva recovered and her wound healed up nicely.

The stitches had been taken out and she could now fight, but she was careful as she sat beside Bucky and Natasha while looking through the files that they had found at the building.

So far, they had only one lead and that was a Russian arms dealer by the name of Olaf Hesse and he seemed to have stolen vibranium from the warehouse in Wakanda. The man was on the top of Interpol's red notice list along with another man they recognised.

Brock Rumlow… AKA Crossbones. The former S.H.E.I.L.D agent was now a feared and lethal arms dealer. He had been spotted in Russia, Stalingrad and Kiev. No one knew what exactly he had done but he had killed three police officers and even a poor young woman who had three children and her husband was in the Russian Armed Forces.

"How much damage would those nuclear bombs do...if they went off in a populated area?" Sam asked wearily.

Tony pulled up a worst case scenario on his laptop.

"If one of those bombs go off in Fifth Avenue, the area would be badly hit. Anyone who was in direct contact with the blast would die instantly while the lower half of New York would be intoxicated by the pollution. A whole lot of people would die and that's not saying how many people would become sick with radiation sickness, cancer and the unborn children who would be deformed as a result of the radiation blast." Tony said grimly.

Sam swallowed.

"After effects?" Steve asked quietly and Tony swallowed.

"We'd be looking at something similar to the Hiroshima bombing. If they set off a Nuke at precisely the right location, America might not recover..." Tony said gravely.

"That's exactly why we need to put an end to HYDRA and their plans." Steve said. "Have we heard from Fury?" He asked as he looked towards Sharon.

"He called this morning, he and Hill are coming later this afternoon with some fresh intel on the whereabouts of Ross and Rumlow." Sharon informed him.

"Great, once we have that information, we begin planning our next mission. We don't want to give these guys a chance to set off a Nuke or gather any more supplies for their 'world domination' scheme."

"Right, so what are our priorities?" Tony asked concerned.

"Priority one is locate and secure the nuclear weapons. This comes above anything else, if you have to choose between securing the Nukes and pursuing one of our targets, the nukes come first." Steve stressed. "Priority two is capture Ross. He needs to be brought back to the states and answer for his crimes." He continued. "Priority three, is capture Rumlow. He is a danger, and he is only enabling HYDRA to fulfil their plan. Is everyone clear on that?" He asked as he looked around at the team.

"Crystal." Clint replied calmly.

"Got it." Sam said and the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"What if we can't capture them?" Bucky asked quietly.

"We need to do our best to take them alive, but if that's not possible, then the threat must be eliminated." Steve said, not happy with the idea. But he knew too well that these people had to either be captured or killed. They couldn't be left to run rampant and cause destruction to the world. He was never okay with taking a life, but if it meant saving countless others, then he knew there was no choice to be made. Steve was never alright with taking lives while on a mission. He knew the others weren't but it was something that had to be done.

* * *

Eva and Natasha sat down next to each other and they talked for a while. Eva knew Natasha had been worried about her, but thanks to her enhancements her side had healed up nicely and quite quickly.

"You know, I'm glad we're family even though neither of us knew about it until three days ago." Eva said with a smile which Natasha returned. They were interrupted by the television as they saw something on the news that caught their attention.

"It is the first time in fifty years, since there has been a United Nations Week like this with foreign dignitary officials and prime ministers arriving from all over the world. But concerns are still evident after a bomb was detonated at the Royal Palace Hotel where the American president, Matthew Ellis and Russian President, Vladimir Putin had been discussing a peace talk with Israel and Palestine."

"Hey, you two have gotta come and see this, Tony hacked the code of that USB stick." Sharon said breathlessly and they hurried over to where the rest of the team was and Fury and Hill had joined them.

"Ok, whoever owned this memory stick coded it in Russian but I broke the code and now let's see what we have." Tony said and clicked on it as a familiar Russian voice spoke.

"We meet again, Avengers and I see that you survived your encounter with HYDRA super soldier Yelena. Did it bring back memories for you Miss Nikolayev?" The voice asked amused.

"Hardly and I'd rather not talk about Yelena, why are you doing this?" Eva asked calmly.

"HYDRA realised that in order to take over, we needed more super soldiers like the Winter Soldier. So when we learnt that Howard Stark and Dr. Erskine had perfected a serum, the one they used on Captain Rogers, we had to have it. However that plan failed. But we had Yuri and Mikhail Nikolayev recreate that formula for us, however it was a little… different. When we got the serum, we began giving it to young Red Room recruits who showed promise and great techniques. It wasn't until later on when Natalia and Evangeline came to our attention that we realised the serums true potential." The man continued as he showed footage of Natasha and Eva in the Red Room.

"We decided that Natalia and Evangeline would be the ultimate super soldiers, and that is when project Psyche was born. But thanks to Mr Barton and SHIELD, we lost one of our prime candidates when he turned Miss Romanova, so we were left with only Miss Nikolayev to work with. Of course we still have Miss Belkova and all the other girls. But you see they did not show the same promise that you two did. Our plan has been in motion for many, many years. There is nothing you can do to stop it now. Everything you have done, it all amounts to nothing."

* * *

 _AN: Enjoy and review._


	19. Worthy Hero

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 19

* * *

Fury and Hill arrived with grim news for the team, but on the up side they now knew what their next mission was.

"We have received word that Rumlow is in China." Fury spoke up.

"Our sources suggest that Ross may be with him, but at this stage we cannot confirm that." Hill added in.

"What the hell is he doing in China?" Clint asked puzzled.

"V-Day." Natasha said grimly as she realized HYDRA's plan.

"Valentine's Day was months ago babe." Clint chuckled.

"Victory Day Military Parade..." Steve said shocked.

"HYDRA are going to set off a bomb during the parade?" Eva asked worriedly. "They would kill thousands and thousands of people."

"That is what our Intel suggests." Fury told them. "HYDRA wants to take over the world, and what better way to do it by taking out the world's largest militaries. With them out of the way, there won't be a lot of people left to oppose them let alone stop them."

"We have to stop this." Steve said determinedly. "Do we have a time frame?"

"The parade is in a few days" Fury stated.

"Right team, we better get to work on a plan, Hill we are going to need all the Intel you have. Tony, can you find out all there is to know about the parade? Important people attending, where it's being held… all of that."

"On it." Tony replied as he started tapping away on his IPad.

Fury and Hill left as the team began to work on their plan to stop the bombing and take down Rumlow and Ross.

* * *

"The parade is going to be in Beijing, and its celebrating the anniversary of the end of the Second World War and its friendships with the rest of the UN countries." Tony informed them.

"If Ross and Rumlow set off a nuke right in the heart of China, taking out the majority of their military, the country won't recover from that." Eva said worriedly.

"Fury and Maria left to inform the prime minister and the China Secret Service. Do we know of any other countries that Ross and Rumlow plan to target?" Steve asked concerned.

"The intel Maria sent suggests that Japan, England, Russia, Germany, Romania, Switzerland and Finland, Poland, France, Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and any countries that stood up to the Nazis and HYDRA are targets. And of course the U.S." Sharon said grimly.

"Suit up." Steve told the team. "Clint and Natasha ready the quinjet. I want wheels up in thirty minutes. Stark… talk to me about what tech you have than can disable or contain a nuclear bomb."

"Right this way Cap." Tony gestured as he lead him to his make shift lab where he kept all the tech he managed to take from The Avenger's Tower before they went into hiding.

* * *

Flying to China, specifically the capital, Beijing was a new experience for Eva and Sharon as neither of them had been to the famous country before. The team landed and exited the jet and began to survey the area. Sam used his Redwing drone to fly over the city using facial recognition software to try and track down Rumlow and Ross.

But they were quickly interrupted when they saw HYDRA soldiers up ahead who were coming their way and began firing at them. Eva threw up her energy shield which deflected the bullets, before using her powers to blast at them. Sam pulled up one into the air and threw him against a car, while Tony and Pepper flew overhead shooting down the HYDRA soldiers with their pulsors.

Steve and Sharon where fighting some of the soldiers on the ground along with Clint, Bucky and Natasha as they saw Rhodey arrive in his suit then.

"Rhodey?" Steve questioned.

"I was already in the neighbourhood talking to the president, he's ok with us being here but he wants no civilians to be caught in the crossfire. He wants us to do all we can to end this threat and keep the people of China safe." Rhodey explained seriously.

"Well it looks like HYDRA already know we are here" Natasha said stating the obvious. "Gonna be a little hard to keep a low profile now."

"How did they get onto us so fast?" Clint wondered aloud.

"If I've learnt one thing over the years with HYDRA, it's that they have eyes and ears everywhere." Steve replied as he fought off another HYDRA agent.

Tony, Pepper and Rhodey all used their suits to take down more of the army, destroying their vehicles and heavy weaponry in the process as they flew overhead, looking out for their team mates below. Eva used her powers to lift both Clint and Bucky to higher ground where they took out more incoming soldiers, Bucky with his sniper rifle and Clint with his bow. The rest of the team stayed on the ground, fighting hand to hand until all the HYDRA personnel were taken care of.

"Well, that was one hell of a welcome party." Tony joked.

"No sign of Rumlow or Ross though." Bucky spoke up.

At that moment they heard the crackle of a radio and Rumlow's voice came over a walkie that was clipped onto one of the dead HYDRA agent's tactical vest. "Alpha team, Report" he said. The team all looked at one another in surprise.

"What do we do?" Eva asked as she looked to Steve.

He picked up the walkie and waited a moment to see if Rumlow would speak again and after a few moments he did. "Come in Alpha Team... are the Avengers dead?" He asked coldly.

"Sorry Rumlow, you'll have to try a little harder than that." Steve replied calmly.

"Rogers... don't you worry. There's plenty more where that came from. Next time you won't be so lucky." Rumlow growled before the radio crackled and they were met with nothing but silence.

"Right team, let's get to the safe house Fury set up and begin mission prep." Steve told the team.

* * *

The mission preparation was spent with looking over blueprints of the building where Rumlow and Ross were hiding out along with two of the missing nuclear bombs. Sam had scouted the building with Redwing and confirmed it was the correct location.

"Alright here's the plan, we're all gonna have to go in by ourselves as going in pairs will direct too much attention." Steve said reluctantly, he wasn't happy about this as it would mean the team wouldn't have a partner to watch their back but they all nodded in agreement. "I want Tony, Pepper and Rhodey to secure the outside once the rest of us have gone in. Once HYDRA are on to us, Ross and Rumlow will probably try to escape. We can't let the happen."

"Knowing Rumlow, he's probably rigged the building with explosives and booby trapped the place." Clint said grimly as he looked over the blueprints. There were two ways in and out, one round the back and one at the front. There was also a staircase to the second floor and one to the rooftop and an engine room on the basement floor.

"I'll send Redwing to help out." Sam said as he referred to the red drone bird-like robot. He was a little like Jarvis, only a smaller robot version in falcon form. Tony had helped him build it, and it had proven very useful on all of their missions.

"Alright let's go." Natasha said as she secured her guns into their holsters. Sharon picked up her two fighting electronic staves that Tony had built for her and secured them in the holders on her belt. The rest of the team finished putting on their uniforms and grabbing their weapons before heading to the quinjet.

* * *

Eva had never thought she'd say it, but she was actually grateful for the constant stealthy lessons that the Red Room had drilled into her since she was eleven years old. She snuck up behind two engineers in the basement, but one turned around and spotted her.

"Hi boys." She greeted innocently and the men looked at her questioningly, before she fired at them with her psionic energy blasts before using her grappling hook to strangle another HYDRA soldier that had heard the commotion.

She leapt over a rail and landed on the next level of the engine room then and saw two more men bursting into the room. She blasted at one of them by using a hex bolt, causing him to stumble backwards and she kicked him in the face before slamming her low heeled boot clad feet into the other man's stomach, causing him to crumple into a heap on the ground before knocking him out cold.

"Eva?" Bucky asked quietly, a little worried after hearing the sounds of her fighting over the comms.

"Engine room secured and no sign of the nukes here." Eva said grimly just as two more men appeared before her and she pulled out her two Colt Pythons and shot them both in the head.

* * *

Natasha made her way through a window undetected and began to search through the building. She came to a room guarded by a HYDRA soldier and she used her stealth training to sneak up on him, snapping his neck before dragging his body out of sight. She opened the door a crack and peered inside. It was empty, but there were a lot of blueprints all over the walls. She crept in quietly and began to take pictures of all the blueprints with her phone, sending them straight to Hill and Fury. No doubt these were HYDRA's targets for the rest of the nuclear bombs.

She heard voices outside the door and quickly hid inside a large upright weapons locker, leaving the door open enough to see out. As the voice grew closer and the door opened a little she saw it was Rumlow. "I got eyes on Rumlow, south side of the building, far room." She whispered into her comms, hoping that her team mates would hear her.

As Rumlow entered he was talking on his phone, it sounded as though he was co-ordinating one of the attacks. Natasha listened in, gathering as much Intel as she could. A reply came through her comms from Steve saying he was making his way to her, but it must have been loud enough that Rumlow heard as he immediately spun around to face the locker where she was hidden. He started to walk towards her and rather than be trapped in the locker she pushed the door open, smacking it into his head before following up with a kick to his chest making him stumble backwards.

"Romanoff." He growled as he looked her over.

"Rumlow... always a pleasure." She smiled sarcastically as she rushed towards him with a flying punch, but he quickly blocked it and picked her up throwing her across the room and into a wall. Just then Steve came bursting through the door followed by Bucky and the three men began to fight.

As Natasha was getting back to her feet she heard Clint's voice come over the comms. "I got eyes on Ross, Rumlow must have tipped him off, he heading for the front exit." He said. "Anyone copy?"

"I copy." came Eva's voice, followed by Sharon who announced she was on her way to his location.

"We have the exit covered outside." Pepper spoke up as she stood guard in her suit with Tony by her side.

"Ross isn't getting away this time." Tony added.

* * *

Clint took out two mercenaries with his bow while Sam flew nearby and took out two more. Redwing shot the last two just as they saw another team of mercenaries storming towards them.

That was until Eva turned up and got the drop on them and ended up breaking one of the guy's necks while kicking another one in the face. Sharon appeared too and began fighting off the HYDRA soldiers with her electronic fighting staves. Eva then blasted another one into a brick wall.

"Ow." Clint heard her say with a grimace as she rubbed at her left side. The wound had healed nicely but was still sensitive.

Just then Bucky, Steve and Natasha arrived to where the rest of the team was. "Any idea where Tony, Pepper and Rhodey are?" Natasha asked concerned.

"Pepper and I are rounding up some stragglers trying to escape out of the building. Rhodey has the rooftop secured." Came Tony's voice through the comms as more mercenaries converged on the rest of the team and began firing at them.

Eva threw up an energy shield to protect her team mates from the wave of bullets coming at them and the team began to fire back at the soldiers. That was when Eva got knocked on the floor by Yelena then who was glaring at her murderously.

"I knew you weren't loyal from the moment you arrived at the Red Room, mind you Natalia was the same." Yelena spat angrily as she began to throw punches at Eva.

"Yeah well, at least we don't follow a psychotic organisation that's linked to a political party that murdered innocent people simply for being born different." Eva said defiantly as she kicked her in the stomach.

"I forgot you and Natalia are half Jewish freaks! How do you think your mother would feel knowing that you worked for the organisation that murdered half of her family while your father's watched their three uncles and father being shot? I'd say disappointed in you both, poor Malia would be curling in her grave if she knew what her best friend had become." Yelena taunted cruelly and something in Eva snapped then.

"You don't get to say our family and friends names!" Eva shouted enraged at her insulting her family.

"Oh I do and here's why!" Yelena taunted amused and revealed a suicide bomb vest. "If I'm going down Evangeline, then I'm taking you with me! And all your little friends!" Yelena declared triumphantly and she swallowed before hearing the others shouting and screaming for her to get away but she couldn't, there were still people being evacuated. So she did the one thing she could do.

Eva wrapped her purple psionic shield around Yelena and lifted her as far away from the team as she could while using all of her energy to contain the blast as Yelena pressed the switch. Sweat began to show on her brow as she tried to control it, the blast was becoming too big though for her to control.

 _'I can do this, I can sacrifice myself to save my family. Saving you, Steve, Sharon, Natasha, Rhodey, Clint, Sam, Pepper and Tony. It's worth it.'_ Eva said mentally to Bucky who was running over towards her then.

"Eva! Eva, don't do this!" Bucky begged out loud.

"I have too! If I move it any further, it's going to blow up the whole building with civilians still trapped here! Get out of here now! Get everyone out of here!" Eva yelled as she struggled to contain the blast.

"Eva no!... I can't lose you!" Bucky said pained as he looked at her with sadness.

"I'll be ok James, please get everyone to safety... please." She begged him.

"Ok." Bucky finally caved. "I'll help clear the building, but then I'm coming right back for you." He told her.

The rest of the team began to clear the building as well as the surrounding area, making sure there were no civilians left in the blast radius if things went south and the bomb went off.

* * *

Eva struggled to hold Yelena within her protective shield and she began to think of all the lives that would be lost if she couldn't contain the blast. Steve... Sharon... Sam... Tony... Pepper... Rhodey... Clint... Natasha... James, the faces of her friends, her family flashed before her eyes as she did her best to hold on.

"Give up Evangeline... you and your friends are as good as dead." Yelena voice said inside her head. Eva screamed out as the blast threatened to break through her shield, it was so intense and it was taking everything she had to keep it within her shield.

"Eva!" She heard Bucky yell, she was focused so hard on containing the blast that he sounded like he was miles away. But then he appeared at her side, whispering encouragement in her ear as she battled on. "You can do this Eva... I know you can. We all know you can." Bucky told her. At his words she looked confused, until she turned her head to see the whole Avengers team behind her.

"We're a team, we're family. We've got your back no matter what." Natasha smiled at her as she held tightly onto Clint's hand.

"You can do this Eva, we believe in you." Steve told her.

Eva knew in that moment she had to use every ounce of strength she had left to contain the blast. Her arms were becoming heavy and starting to drop, she didn't know how much longer she could hold it. "Bucky... the serum..." She managed to get out through gritted teeth. Referring to the serum Tony had created to help maintain her energy levels in a fight when her powers were drained. Bucky quickly grabbed a syringe from her utility belt and jabbed it into her leg, injecting the serum into her body.

Her eyes began to glow purple and her powers grew stronger. She straightened her arms out and with one last almighty scream she began to draw her hands together and the team watched on as the ball of flames before them began to shrink. With one last push Eva clapped her hands together before throwing them apart and what was a huge ball off flame disappeared into a cloud of purple energy before Eva began to collapse to the ground in exhaustion.

* * *

"Eva!" Bucky yelled as he caught her limp body. Lowering her down, he checked her pulse. It was still very strong.

"Let's get out of here before reinforcements arrive." Tony spoke up.

"I'm right with you on that one." Sam said quickly as the team made their way out of the building. He kept watch over them in the air as they headed to the quinjet where Eva was laid down.

"Nobody gets any ideas about sacrificing themselves, after this." Steve ordered sternly and they all nodded. They knew Eva hadn't had a choice when Yelena detonated the bomb. If Eva had let go of Yelena so close to the medical building, then countless innocent people could have died as a result. But watching a friend, a team mate, and a loved one sacrifice themselves was a difficult thing to do.

"And Eva thinks she isn't a hero or worthy to be an Avenger… that's bullshit. She's worthier than me to be on this team." Bucky said quietly as he brushed Eva's hair away from her face.

"Why didn't she let us help?" Rhodey asked alarmed, Eva had been adamant that they all leave her to handle the explosion on her own and it confused him.

"Because we would have been seriously hurt or even killed, that bomb was made out of nails, shrapnel and pieces of metal. We would have bled to death or lost limbs. So Eva tried to contain it as best she could. It was dangerous, but she knew the risk and she was willing to lay down her life to save all of us and countless civilians. Eva is a real hero." Tony said quietly.

Natasha shook her head but there was a proud look in her eyes at what her cousin had done, she had saved them and many other innocent lives who would have died in that building if Eva hadn't used her shield to contain it.

"What happened to Rumlow?" Clint asked concerned.

"He got electrocuted by one of Natasha's toys and is now in S.H.I.E.L.D custody." Steve informed him as they reached the ranch and landed just as Eva stirred and rubbed her head gingerly then.

"What happened?" She asked looking around at her team mates.

* * *

 _AN: Review and enjoy :)_


	20. The Red Hulk

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 20

* * *

As Clint flew the team back to his farm, Steve was on the phone to Fury, filling him in on what happened.

"Yes sir, Rumlow is in SHIELD custody." He told the director. "I'm sorry sir, in the panic to clear the civilians while Eva was trying to contain the bomb blast... I'm afraid Ross got away."

The team looked at him grimly.

"Yes sir." They heard Steve say. "No sir, no leads yet... Ok sir, have Hill call me when you find him." Steve said before he hung up the phone.

"Eva, how are you feeling?" Steve asked her. Sharon had been checking her over, while Bucky filled her in on what had happened. Her powers had drained her energy so much trying to contain the bomb that her short term memory had been obliterated. She couldn't remember anything that happened during the mission. Sharon said it was most likely only temporary, but they would use some of Tony's technology to do a brain scan once they got back, just to be sure. She administered another shot of Eva's serum to boost her energy levels back up. She was as pale as a ghost and very weak and tired, but otherwise she was unharmed.

"Ok... someone's gotta address the elephant in the room." Tony spoke up and everyone looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about Stark?" Steve asked.

"Eva..." He said, and everyone seemed even more confused. What could she possibly have done wrong? Bucky's fists balled up then as he looked at Tony angrily. "You saved us all." Tony said seriously. "We owe you our lives. Bucky had mentioned back there that sometimes you felt like you weren't worthy to be an Avenger. Let me be the one to tell you right now that you... you are most certainly worthy. You put the safety of your friends and countless civilians ahead of your own. You are a true hero Eva." Tony said with a smile.

"Thank you Tony." Eva smiled shyly.

"Just one thing..." Tony added. "Don't ever think that you have to do anything like that on your own. We are a team. We fight as a team, and if it comes down to it... we will die as a team" Tony said as he looked around at everyone and they all nodded in agreement.

"You gave us one hell of a scare Eva." Natasha said as she hugged her cousin tightly. "Don't ever do that again." She scolded jokingly, but still kind of serious about it.

"I'll try not to." Eva laughed.

"I'm so proud of you Eva." Bucky said as he held her hand tight.

"I think this calls for a celebration tonight!" Tony said somewhat triumphantly. "We took down Belkova and captured Rumlow, this is good progress."

"Tony's right." Steve agreed. "This is a win for us, and we haven't really had a lot of those lately. I think we all deserve to blow off a little steam." He smiled.

* * *

"Party time, people." Natasha said approvingly and everyone cheered then brightly as they landed at the farm and started getting off the quinjet then.

Bucky helped Eva get off the plane then, she leaned into him weakly as they headed up to the ranch and staggered into the living room. Natasha helped Eva up to the desk where Tony and Jarvis could do a brain scan of her brain, she was starting to remember things but still had a very bad headache.

Clint poured glasses of water for everyone along with passing around some first aid kits, the fight had been brutal and they all needed to patch themselves up and relax. A night off was just what they all needed. They had captured Rumlow but Eva had nearly died in the process.

* * *

The brain scans confirmed that Eva was fine and simply needed some rest, so Eva stuck strictly to water, but couldn't resist a glass of sake which was Japanese Rice Wine when Tony had brought out a bottle.

"I'm wondering if any of you have a sexual fantasies?" Tony asked slyly and a little drunk, causing everyone to stare at him then in shock. Sam began whistling low trying not to hear about his friends sex lives. That was not a conversation he wanted to be a part of.

"Well now that you ask that, Tony...I like my man being alpha male and being in charge." Sharon said teasingly and winked at Steve who smirked and held her close while his cheeks flushed red.

Tony looked dumbfounded. "And here we were thinking you were all innocent Cap." he laughed, causing Steve to turn an even brighter shade of red.

"Tony's wonderful in bed, especially with the Arc Reactor." Pepper said a little too openly, the few glasses of wine clearly had an effect on her. Tony just smiled cockily, he was never one to shy away from praise. Especially when it came to his sexual prowess. Everyone looked at Eva then who had just sat down next to Bucky. She was out of her suit, and now wearing a pair of black jeans, a grey t - shirt and her hair was damp from having a shower.

"I have no complaints in that department, especially with his metal arm." Eva said playfully and kissed Bucky on the cheek then as everyone just stared.

"What about you Barton… Romanoff, you guys getting in on this?" Tony asked with a chuckle.

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell." Clint replied with a smile as he placed a sweet kiss on Natasha's cheek.

"C'mon Romanoff… I know you got something to say… those three glasses of wine and two shots of sake gotta be kicking in by now." Tony laughed.

"What can I say…? Clint never misses his target." She giggled somewhat suggestively causing everyone else to laugh along

"I did not need to hear about everyone's sex lives." Sam said horrified as he turned on the news to change the topic of conversation, apparently there was some sort of law for superheroes called the Superhero Registration Act by Thaddeus Ross.

"Ugh that Ross is a total asshole." Natasha groaned.

"I agree babe." Clint said, and the rest of the team nodded in agreement too.

"Hopefully it won't be too long before Fury and Hill can track his whereabouts and we can take that bastard down." Steve growled angrily. It wasn't like him to show such anger and definitely not like him to curse.

"Language!" Tony scolded jokingly and the whole team laughed, including Steve.

"Sorry Tony, it just slipped out." Steve chuckled.

"This Superhero Registration Act is a complete joke." Eva piped up. "It's just an excuse to put us all in cages. We all know that is Ross's end game."

"We won't ever let that happen. Once we catch up with Ross the world will see him for what he truly is. HYDRA scum!" Bucky growled.

"I'm sick of seeing this guy's face." Tony said referring to the photo of Ross that the reporter had put up on the screen, before switching the tv off again and instructing Jarvis to put some music on.

"I can't even look at him without wanting to punch his face in." Bucky agreed, making Tony laugh.

Anyone for another drink!?" Tony declared as he made his way to the bar.

"Count me in!" Natasha called out along with most of their other team mates.

Now that Eva was feeling better she decided to have a glass of wine along with Sharon, Pepper, and Natasha. The guys had shots of bourbon and whisky as they told stories and laughed the night away, the music playing quietly in the background and all thoughts of HYDRA slipped from their minds.

* * *

After a while everyone was feeling pretty tipsy and they all decided to call it a night and each staggered off to their rooms.

Bucky glanced at Eva who had completely crashed out and was quickly falling asleep, a happy smile on her face as he pulled her into his arms, his metal hand stroking her cheek gently.

"I love you, Eva." He whispered softly and Eva smiled in her sleep then, she held onto him tightly then.

"I love you too." She whispered sleepily and he held her close, happy at having Eva by his side, he loved this strong, brave and fearless woman.

She meant everything to him. She made him so happy, he held her tightly to him and closed his eyes as he tried to get some sleep and avoid getting a hangover.

* * *

The next day was spent trying to figure out what Ross's next move would be, they had stopped him letting off one of the nuclear bombs in China but he had four more left.

Where would he send them?

Fury had that answer for them when he arrived, apparently Ross was in Russia. Moscow to be exact, in the country side and he had a lot of men with him, including enhanced and those Vibranium made androids that HYDRA had created.

"Oh no..." Natasha said grimly and the team turned to look at her, confusion on their faces. "The Military and Defence Expo." She stated.

"What's that?" Sharon asked curiously.

"I always watch the Russian news, and just the other day I saw Putin talking about The Military and Defence Expo. The science and technology division of the Russian military have been creating new guns and tactical armour that will make a huge difference. So they are holding the expo to showcase it all as well as recruiting more soldiers" Natasha explained.

"Oh god." Steve exclaimed.

"Ross is going to bomb the expo?" Eva asked worried.

"Most likely." Steve answered. "He wants to take out as much of the opposing foreign military as possible, so he will take any opportunity to attack when they are in mass groups."

"Cap's right." Fury spoke up. "Our intel suggests that Ross intends to detonate a nuke at the expo. The loss of life would be huge. We need you all to make sure that doesn't happen. Get to Moscow and find Ross. Capture him and bring him in, if you can't do that... then kill him." Fury told the team.

"Yes Sir." Steve said. "Team... suit up, wheels up in one hour."

Everyone nodded and went to suit up, not to mention grabbing their weapons while Steve and Fury agreed that the president needed to be notified and that an evacuation of the public needed to be done immediately.

No one wanted innocent people in the crossfire, not if they could help though as HYDRA didn't mind killing innocent people just to kill their enemies.

* * *

Everyone boarded the quinjet and Clint started flying them to Russia. Natasha and Eva both looked nervous about going back to their native country. Eva couldn't remember the last time she had been to Russia, maybe it had been after her first assassination on someone when she had graduated the Red Room.

"Here, got you this." Bucky said quietly and handed her a collapsible bo staff then as she stared at him a little confused. But she didn't miss the smug looks Clint and Natasha gave her.

"Am I missing something or is there a running joke?" Eva asked finally, hoping no one in the jet knew about her secret wish to have a collapsible bo staff.

"Nope, just figured that you'd want your own collapsible bo staff seeing as you like stealing Clint's to practice with when he taught you how to use it." Tony said smugly.

Eva turned an interesting shade of dark red then.

"Damn you, JARVIS." She said finally but she wasn't cross with the AI.

"I'm sorry Miss Nikolayev, Mr Stark and Mr Barnes along with Mr Barton and Miss Romanoff tricked me into showing the training room footage of you using the collapsible bo staff. If I must say so, you show skill with it." JARVIS praised.

Eva flushed. "Thank you, JARVIS." She said shyly and wished that she was facing a horde of HYDRA robots instead of her amused boyfriend and the rest of the team.

 _'I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?'_ She asked Bucky mentally who smiled and held her close, before kissing her.

 _'No, but I think it's sexy, doll.'_

When the Quinjet landed in Moscow the team were all geared up and ready to go. Hill had just sent them intel on a reported sighting of Ross near the venue of the expo and they wasted no time in getting there as quick as possible. No doubt Ross and the HYDRA soldiers were setting up the nuke.

Together half of the team made their way through the basement of the building where the expo was being held while Tony, Pepper, Rhodey and Sam took out a few HYDRA guards posted at the entrances before securing them and clearing any civilians from the surrounding buildings and streets.

The group in the basement split off into teams, Steve, Sharon and Natasha took one side while Eva, Bucky and Clint took the other. Quickly and quietly they took out any HYDRA soldiers they came across. Careful not to alert Ross to their presence. Eva was enjoying breaking in her new Bo Staff. They continued to make their way through the basement floor to find that it was clear and the two teams re-joined at the exit to the floor above.

"No sign of Ross in the basement." Steve told the others through his comms. "Heading to the first floor."

"Copy that Cap." Tony replied. "Streets and surrounding buildings are clear of civilians. Pepper and I are heading to the roof to make our way down."

* * *

Steve and the others quietly climbed the stair case, as they reached the door Bucky checked it to make sure it wasn't rigged with alarms or explosives. "All clear." He whispered as he opened the door a crack. Peering out into the hall he could see half a dozen HYDRA operatives standing guard outside on of the doors. Bucky signalled the others with his hands, telling them how many soldiers he could see. Each of them were assigned a target and on Bucky's count they burst through the door. Clint took out his target with an arrow, while Sharon used her pistol with a silencer to take out hers. Natasha threw one of her widow's bites at her target, rendering him unconscious and Steve threw his shield at another, knocking him out. Bucky ran at another, grabbing him quickly as he reached for his radio. Covering his mouth he broke the soldier's wrist making him drop the radio and stifled his scream of pain before knocking him out. Eva used her new bo staff to swiftly knock out the last remaining soldier before the team converged at the door.

Natasha used a device that Tony had made to scan the room for heat signatures. She counted a dozen, and she was certain one of those would be Ross. She switched the device to another mode which allowed her to listen. Through a small speaker came Ross's voice. He was instructing a couple of the men on where to place the bomb for maximum effect.

"We've located Ross." Steve told the others.

"What's our play here Cap?" Clint asked as he looked to their leader.

"No matter what, we need to stop Ross from detonating that nuke, Bucky and Eva you need to make sure that no Enhanced get in our way and if you have to then kill." Steve instructed and then looked at his team then, his family. "Either way, watch each other's backs, you get hurt, hurt them back...you get killed...walk it off."

* * *

They had managed to fight off half of Ross's men but he seemed to have made an army of enhanced HYDRA and Red Room agents that were willing to stop them at all costs.

Eva took one out with her collapsible bo staff while Bucky took the other one out by snapping his neck, she then saw a dark haired young woman glaring at her then.

"I don't think we've met yet, I'm Eva!" Eva said politely with a somewhat sarcastic and smug look on her face and the woman's eyes flashed dark orange then briefly before she glared at them.

"I don't care!" She spat and charged at them, Eva blocked her attack with her bo staff, pushing her backwards before using her powers to throw her into the other woman who was fighting Bucky then.

"Thanks, doll." Bucky said quietly and she smiled then, amusedly at him then as they went to join the others.

"Your welcome, James."

They quickly cleared their area but found no sign of Ross or the nuclear bomb, when they found the rest of their team fighting off Ross's army of enhanced and the Vibranium made robots.

Eva began levitating some in the air, before using her psionic energy blasts to cause them to rot and rust, purple energy glowing around them as they were broken into pieces. Bucky used his gun while Natasha used her batons, Sharon used her staves, Clint used his bow as Tony, Pepper and Rhodey used their repulsors to blast at them.

"Did you really think that you'd win?" Ross asked coldly as he walked into the room, holding a vial of dark red liquid, and without any of them speaking he quickly drank it and tossed the vial aside. Nothing happened for a minute and the team all looked at one another confused, suddenly he became bigger and his skin turned a dark shade of red then as he let out a loud roar. He had become like the Hulk.

"What the fuck is that!?" Clint shouted alarmed at what Ross had just transformed himself into.

"He's like the Hulk but red." Steve answered worriedly.

"Correction, I'm better than the Hulk. We created a serum to replicate what happened to Doctor Banner, but with all this HYDRA technology and the use of their scientists I finally got what I wanted. To be indestructible!" Ross boomed.

"Ummm any ideas?" Natasha questioned as she looked around at her team mates.

Tony, Pepper and Rhodey began firing their repulsors at him, but the energy blasts didn't even penetrate the monster's skin. "Enough!" he yelled as he swung a giant red arm at Tony and the others, sending them flying into the wall.

"You guys good?" Steve asked worried.

"Yeah... we're okay" Pepper replied as she scrambled to her feet.

"I told you... you cannot win!" The red hulk growled.

"We'll see about that." Clint replied as he fired an explosive arrow at him which he caught mid-air, allowing it to explode within his grasp and as the smoke cleared around his hand it revealed it to be unharmed. "This is going to be fun." Clint said sarcastically. Ross roared and swung his huge fist at him, only to be stopped in his tracks when dark purple energy wrapped around Clint and moved him out of the way. Clint looked around and found Eva levitating him in the air, her eyes had a dark purple like lavender tint to them and she was concentrating hard before gently putting him down beside Natasha as Ross stomped towards where Eva and Bucky were.

"I've located a nuke!" Sam spoke through comms.

"On our way." Tony replied.

"You have been thorns in my side ever since you joined the Avengers!" The Red Hulk roared enraged before making a move to swipe at them then.

Eva then started throwing psionic hex bolts at him to give Tony time to deactivate the nuke when suddenly one of the Enhanced let out a loud scream, that made Eva's head hurt. Eva clutched her head in pain, and Clint saw the Ehanced and fired an arrow at her. She caught it and smirked.

"Is that really the best you could do? I honestly thought you were better than this as you defeated Natalia when you were sent to kill her, Agent Barton-" the rest of her sentence was cut off when she was blown up.

"You were saying?" Clint asked sarcastically.

"Thank you, Clint!" Eva and Bucky called out as they tried to take down the Red Hulk but he responded trying to crush them, Bucky shot him in the arm but it only grazed him and he snarled.

"The nuke has been deactivated." Tony told the team as he and Pepper reappeared.

Bucky grabbed Eva's hand and they raced over to where the others were as they suddenly saw a helicopter firing at them.

"Tony... you got this?" Steve asked as he gestured to the helicopter outside the window.

"Sure thing Cap... Pep, with me babe." He said as he flew out of the shattered window towards the helicopter along with Rhodey. The two men each fired off a shot but the pilot swerved to the side narrowly missing them. That's when Pepper fired off a shot of her own, a small missile from the forearm of her suit. It connected with the tail rotor and the chopper began to spiral out of control before descending to the ground.

"Great work Pepper." Tony said as they both flew down towards the wreckage to check for survivors.

* * *

The rest of the team continued to fight the massive creature that was once Ross. Natasha threw a few widows bites at his legs but they felt like nothing but a mere pin prick to the huge beast. The Red Hulk picked Natasha up and tossed her aside and she crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"Natasha!" Eva yelled, worried about her cousin.

"I'm ok." She growled as she began to climb to her feet.

"You big ugly red bastard." Clint growled, angry that he had hurt the woman he loved. He charged at the red Hulk, leaping in the air he plunged his knife deep into his chest and used his weight to drag the blade downwards. He roared in pain as the wound began to bleed, but it was only enough to slow him down just a little. He grabbed onto Clint and roared in anger as he threw him across the room, dangerously close to the shattered window, luckily he stopped just short but when he let out a huge cry of pain Natasha knew that something was wrong.

"Clint!" She screamed as she ran to his side. As she knelt beside him she could see he had landed on a large shard of glass from the edge of the window and it had gone right through his left shoulder.

"I need some help here!" Natasha yelled out and Sharon came to her aid and began to survey the wound.

"Babe we gotta do something." Bucky said to Eva, worried that they weren't going to be able to hold up much longer against Ross.

* * *

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	21. Last Ones

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 21

* * *

"I know, you get everyone out of here and I'll try to knock out Ross and then we'll locate the nuke." Eva said quickly.

"No way! I'm not leaving you… we talked about this!" Bucky protested.

"No one stays behind alone." Steve agreed. "Bucky, stay with her, we will move everyone to safety." Bucky nodded, he knew that getting every one out of the building was a priority, it was going to collapse at any minute, but he wasn't about to let Eva do it all on her own, not after last time.

While Natasha and Steve helped Clint out to the street, Eva began throwing everything and anything at Ross, trying to slow him down as he roared at her and made a move to punch her. Eva dived out of the way and levitated herself in the air, before her eyes took on a dark purple tint and Ross's eyes turned purple for a minute as she showed him his worst fear. He stood still for a moment and she sighed in relief, when he suddenly snarled enraged and rounded on her then, his eyes a frightening yellow before he grabbed her by the throat and threw her out of the shattered glass window and onto the street where the rest of the team had been helping civilians, they jumped in alarm when Eva hit the side of a black jeep then, crumpling in a heap and let out a groan then.

The Red Hulk followed her out and right behind him was Bucky, who lept up onto a vehicle and threw himself at the beast, plunging his knife into its shoulder as hard as he could, before being thrown to the ground near Eva.

"Hey! Red prick!" Tony shouted angrily. Ross roared at him and he started firing his repulsors, when Ross threw a piece of wood at him, knocking him out of the air, when Eva quickly lifted him back up with her powers so he wouldn't fall.

Screaming was heard and they saw a family were cowering in their house as Ross stormed over and started tearing it apart, the family cried out and tried to flee. Eva did her best to use her powers to momentarily paralyze the Red Hulk while Sam, Tony, Pepper and Rhodey all flew in scooping up each family member and flying them to safety.

"I can't hold him much longer." Eva said through gritted teeth as she struggled to keep him still. Quickly the other members of the team launched a combined assault. Natasha came running in with her knives, plunging them into his tough skin as hard as she could while Steve used his shield to strike the Red Hulk in the face with all the force he could muster. Bucky collected his high powered rifle and fired a shot at extremely close range into his chest while Steve threw Sharon up into the air and she struck him with her fighting staves.

As Eva's hold on him faded the Red Hulk dropped to the ground injured from all the simultaneous blows. With him unable to fend them off with his giant arms they each were able to inflict some damage to the beast. But it didn't take long for him to climb back to his feet and let out an almighty roar, angrier and louder than ever.

"Nothing we can do is enough!" Natasha said worriedly.

"What do we do Steve?" Sharon questioned.

"Tony... any ideas? Please tell me you have been working on some new tech?" Steve asked quickly.

"Well as it so happens Cap, the good Doctor Banner and I had been working on a little side project, but it's yet to be properly field tested." Tony said a little worriedly.

"Well, we're out of options so... now's a good a time as any." Steve told him.

Tony launched a small device from his suit and the beast staggered back as a miniature robot injected him with a serum that slowly began to shrink his back down to normal size and his skin turned back to its normal colour.

"What the heck was that?" Steve asked, a little surprised that it worked.

"Just a little something Banner and I had been working on to try and neutralise the Hulk if we ever needed to. To be honest I'm a little surprised that it did the job myself." Tony almost chuckled.

But even though his strength had gone Ross was laughing at them, a cold, dark chilling laugh that made the hairs on the back of Bucky's neck stand on end as Thaddeus Ross stared at them.

"You insignificant fools! I've won by doing this!" He shouted gleefully and held up a detonator and smiled evilly, his blue eyes cold. He pressed the trigger as huge cracks began to appear then in the ground, causing people who hadn't been evacuated to scream in fright and flee then. The bridge that led to a town, was splintered as vibranium made androids began firing at them, causing Eva to throw up an energy shield then.

"Do you see the beauty of it? HYDRA's new order will arise now! You Avengers have failed this time!" Ross shouted proudly as a huge android robot began firing at them along with all the others.

"I've got a trick up my sleeve too, Ross!" Tony called out smugly and called his Iron Legion to help them.

"Take them to church!"'

All of a sudden out of nowhere dozens and dozens of Tony's creations appeared and began blasting away the vibranium androids. It didn't take long before they were all destroyed.

"I can't hold this much longer!" Eva called out as her powers began to weaken while she held up the bridge and tried to contain the bomb simultaneously. The smaller bombs had gone off throughout the city, but she kept her powers focused on the nuclear bomb, making sure it didn't detonate until it could be disarmed.

"I've got just the thing." Tony said. "Igor... stabilize that bridge." And with that a huge robot flew towards the bridge and standing beneath it, it locked itself into place and held the bridge up and Eva was able to let go as she focused on containing the bomb blast with her powers. Using her telepathy she was able to read Ross's mind and discover the location of the bomb he had just tried to detonate. She quickly relayed that information to Tony and he flew to the bomb. It took him a few moments but he was able to use his new tech to neutralise the bomb and stop it from receiving any signals to be activated and avoid any more damage and casualties.

Just then Steve threw his shield across the street at Ross who was trying to slip out unnoticed during the chaos. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked. "You have a date with Fury and the President." Steve smiled somewhat smugly.

"There's no talking your way out of this one Ross." Natasha spoke up.

Steve got on the phone to Fury straight away while the rest of the team secured Ross and began making sure that all of the HYDRA operatives were either dead or tied up ready to be transported to SHIELD's holding cells. Tony, Pepper and Rhodey used the tech in their suits to help mend the bridge and make it stable again before the robot Tony affectionately named Igor could remove himself from beneath it.

Natasha and Sharon helped Clint to Quinjet so he could be flown back to SHIELD headquarters for emergency surgery. The shard of glass had done a lot of damage and he had lost a lot of blood. Steve had instructed them to take the jet straight away and get him seen to. More SHIELD agents, including Fury and Hill were already only a few minutes out from their location so they could get a ride back to the farmhouse on another jet.

Sharon stabilized Clint in the back, keeping pressure on his wound to try and slow the bleeding while Natasha got them in the air. "Don't die on me Clint." She whispered under her breath. They had been through a lot together over the years, he meant the world to her and she was terrified of losing him.

* * *

As Natasha landed the jet they were met by a few SHIELD doctors as well as a couple of nurses. Clint was dangerously close to losing consciousness as they lifted him onto a stretcher and rushed him inside.

Natasha refused to leave the room as the doctors prepared Clint for surgery, and there was no way that any of them were brave enough to tell the infamous Black Widow that she wasn't allowed to stay, so they let her be. Sharon stood behind Natasha with a comforting hand on her shoulder and watched on as she held tightly to Clint's hand.

The doctors administered a sedative as well as pain relief before they could begin the procedure. The doctors had informed them that Clint's subclavian vein had been sliced and they needed to repair it as soon as possible before he lost any more blood. Clint looked at Natasha with drowsy eyes as the sedative began to take effect. He smiled at her as if to say that everything was going to be ok. Trust him to be the one comforting her when he was about to go under the knife. "I'll be right here." Natasha whispered softly. "I won't leave you I promise… don't you dare leave me." She said, a tear slipping down her cheek. His lips curled up at the corner into a small smile before the drugs took over and he was unconscious.

The two women watched on nervously as the doctors opened up Clint's wound and began searching for where the blood was coming from. It didn't take them long to find it and as one of the nurses mopped away the blood one of the doctors began to sew the vein back up.

Suddenly the monitors Clint was hooked up to began to beep wildly. "He's going into cardiac arrest!" One of the nurses shouted, but the doctor continued stitching.

"Do something!" Natasha yelled in panic.

"I have to finish repairing this artery before we can do anything else" the doctor explained. "If I don't do it now he is as good as dead."

"He's fucking dying anyway! Can't you see that!?"

"Nat… please, they know what they are doing" Sharon tried to reassure her.

"They're letting him die!" Natasha sobbed, tears streaming down her face as Sharon hugged her tightly.

After a few more tense moments that seemed more like hours the doctor declared that the vein had been repaired and the nurses began to defibrillate Clint.

"Clear!" One of them yelled before shocking him. His body arched violently off the operating table before dropping back down with a thud and the monitor continued to flat line with a loud beep as Natasha and Sharon watched on in horror.

"Again!" the doctor instructed.

"Clear!" The nurse yelled once more before shocking Clint again. His body jolted off the table again and the monitor showed no improvement as it continued to wail.

"Clint!" Natasha screamed. "Don't you do this to me Barton! Don't you dare!" she yelled as she squeezed his hand tightly.

"Once more." The doctor instructed.

"Clear!" the nurse called out again and Natasha reluctantly let go of Clint's hand before the nursed jolted him again. The whole room waited silently, everyone holding their breaths, waiting for his heartbeat to sound through the monitor. But once again they were met with that awful droning beep of the flat line.

"I'm sorry Miss Romanoff…" The doctor began. "We have to call it."

"No!" she cried in response. "No, no, no! Clint!... Clint!" She yelled in desperation. "Clint… please." She sobbed as she grabbed his hand once more holding it tightly as she brought it up to her lips. The ringing of the monitor echoed in her head and it seemed as though time stood still. She couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't supposed to end like this, they had their whole lives ahead of them. Since being with Clint, she had wanted things she had never believed she would have in her life… marriage… children. She wanted a normal life, and she wanted it with him.

"God damn it Clint Barton! I love you!" She sobbed. "We're not done yet!" she cried out as she pounded her fist on his chest with great force. Clint's body arched up off the bed and he gasped in a breath as the monitor began to beep intermittently once more showing his heart had started beating again. Everyone looked around in shock and Natasha laid her head down on his arm as the tears flowed from her eyes. "You bastard. Don't you ever do that again." she whispered as she sighed in relief.

The doctors continued to clean Clint's wound and stitch up both the entry wound on his back and the exit wound on the front of his shoulder, the shard of glass had done a lot of damage and he would require some physical therapy before he had full use of his arm. They set up a blood transfusion and stopped his intravenous sedation. As he slowly regained consciousness he squeezed Natasha's hand softly and turned to look at her.

"Did it go ok?" he asked groggily.

"Perfectly." Natasha replied with a somewhat forced smile.

"Liar." He said holding back a chuckle. "You're crying." He observed.

"You died Clint." She confessed and he looked to the doctor for confirmation.

"Your heart stopped for a few minutes." He confirmed.

"But it felt like hours." Nat told him.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." He smiled at her.

"Get some rest Barton." She scolded as she lay her head down on his chest, wanting nothing more than to hear the constant beat of his heart so she knew that he was okay.

* * *

Once everyone had gotten back to the farmhouse they all took the chance to get some rest as the day had been gruelling for all of them. They had been cleared of any wrongdoing by President Ellis, and Ross had been arrested for his crimes against the US as well as other foreign countries.

The team were going back to the tower tomorrow, now that they were no longer fugitives it was safe to return. Tony was a little nervous about what state it might be in. No doubt Ross and his men had turned the place upside down searching for anything to help track them down when they had fled the city.

Eva was tucked into Bucky's side while Sharon was asleep in Steve's arms, Pepper was running her fingers through Tony's hair soothingly while he rested, and Sam and Rhodey were watching a baseball game on TV.

Clint had his good arm wrapped around Natasha and she was tucked into his side as a dark fluffy grey cat sat beside them, curled up contently. Natasha stroked it as Clint kissed her forehead. The two of them smiled at one another and relished the feeling of being in each other's arms. Clint had been instructed to stay at the SHIELD HQ for monitoring after his surgery, but he had told them as soon as he was feeling better that he was leaving and Sharon and Natasha had promised to keep an eye on him.

The fight with HYDRA had been a long one, and there had been many dangers and injuries along the way. They would be glad once it was all wrapped up. For now they would enjoy their down time and relax in the company of their little makeshift family.

* * *

Eva wasn't sure why, but she wanted to find out what had happened to the rest of her paternal family during the Second World War. Since finding out that Natasha was her only living family after believing for years she had no one, Eva was compelled to find out more about her ancestors. So Natasha and Eva had begun researching their family tree, with help from Tony, Steve, Sharon, Bucky and Clint.

Tony managed to dig deep into the Russian archives, which may or may not have been illegal, where he found plenty of information for the cousins. Most of their paternal family had been doctors, nurses and midwives. Their paternal grandparents had died during the Second World War after being sent to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and had died in the gas chambers.

Natasha choked back a sob when she had read that and Eva wiped her eyes too. Mikhail and Yuri had both survived but had been made to watch their aunts, uncles, cousins and friends being killed or succumbing to illness.

Anastasia Romanova had lost her entire family during the war and had been imprisoned in Bergen – Belsen camp after being caught smuggling children out of the country. Her two twin cousins, who were imprisoned with her had died after being sent to the gas chambers.

Pepper and Sharon were doing their best to stay stoic as Tony read the information from the screen but it was hard, Sharon now knew why her aunt Peggy and Steve along with Bucky despised HYDRA so much and why Steve would get upset when he heard of terrorist groups attacking Israel and other countries, he had friends who were Jewish and of different religions and had suffered discrimination.

Marina Novikov had lost her entire family, her maternal family had been killed in the Riga Ghetto and her paternal family had perished in both Sobbior and Auschwitz.

Tony found out that Howard Stark's aunt and uncle had perished in the gas chambers after being caught trying to flee Germany. His uncle's name had been Anthony too and his aunt's name was Heidi. The couple had been arranged to meet Howard once they escaped Germany but never showed up and it was only after the war had ended that Howard had learnt what had happened to his uncle. Tony had needed a moment because he had started crying, Eva had cried and sobbed in Bucky's arms, Natasha had cried silently in Clint's arms. It was tough information for them all to take in.

Natasha gripped Eva's hand and she held it tightly, Eva was looking through the old articles on the screen, disgusted at the possessions that had been taken from people, watches, jewellery, gold teeth, prams, books, teddy bears and dolls. She remembered how her mother had encouraged her to play the piano and had gotten her one for doing well at school. Her mother had been so proud of her and had doted on her, she was her only child after three difficult miscarriages and a stillbirth, and her parents called Eva their little miracle.

Natasha remembered that she had been called her parents little jewel. She had been loved and cared for, her parents loved her deeply and they gave their lives to keep her safe. She sniffled then before she and Eva embraced tightly. They were the last Nikolayev family members.

* * *

 _Enjoy and review :)_


	22. Nightmare

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 22

* * *

After the take down of both Thaddeus Ross and Brock Rumlow, as well as the death of Yelena Belkova things were very quiet on the HYDRA front. The team had received no news from Fury in over three weeks about any HYDRA activity, but that didn't mean that they weren't all on high alert. They knew that Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker was still out there somewhere, no doubt trying to regroup and rebuild his army. They were certain now that he was the head of HYDRA, and to get rid of HYDRA once and for all they were going to have to take him out.

The team had taken some time over the past few weeks to get some much needed rest now that they were back at the tower. After the battle that they had been through over the last few months they were all pretty worn out. They also took the opportunity to get some training in, focusing especially on working as a team. Bucky was helping Eva to find ways to best utilize her powers in ways that would aid her team mates. She had mastered levitating people to where she wanted them and she had also been working on launching Bucky and Steve through the air at targets, maximizing their attacks. Sam worked on his aerial attacks, figuring out how to inflict the most damage as he swooped in with his wings.

Tony had been tinkering with his suit, as well as Pepper and Rhodey's ones, making adjustments and enhancements so that they were more efficient. He took extra time adding in things he thought would come in handy when fighting enhanced soldiers, as well as equipping them all with the reversal serum he and Dr Banner had created that Tony used on Ross... just in case that wasn't the last they would see of that serum.

Sharon was currently checking Clint's shoulder. The wound had healed nicely but his movement was limited. Both she and Natasha had been helping him with various physiotherapy exercises to help regain some of his strength and mobility. Just as Sharon was finishing up Natasha wandered in. "How's he doing?" she asked.

"Great." Sharon replied. "The wound is great, it will definitely leave a decent sized scar but it has healed very nicely. His strength and movement are both increasing day by day. He'll be good as new in no time." Sharon smiled.

"Thanks Sharon." Clint said with a small smile as she left in search of Steve. "Wanna go do some training?" he asked Natasha.

"You sure you're up to it?" she questioned, eyeing his shoulder.

"C'mon babe, I'm going crazy here... I need to do something."

"Alright... but I'm going easy on you." She smiled.

"Deal." He grinned.

Down the training room the pair began some light sparring. Natasha was very careful not to hit Clint's shoulder or pin him in a way that would hurt it. They spent a good hour fighting together before they decided that was enough and headed to the weapons room to use the firing range. Natasha got herself set up with a pair of glocks and began emptying the magazines into the target down range. When she was done she brought it forward to see that she had hit every shot center mass.

"Nice babe!" Clint grinned at her. He always found her proficiency with weapons extremely hot. He finished putting on his arm guard and finger tabs before grabbing his bow. As he went to line up his shot he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He let his bow down and tried to shake it off before lining up again only to feel the same pain but even sharper. "Ahhhh Fuck!" He yelled in pain and frustration.

Natasha was watching on quietly, worried he might be pushing himself too much. "It's ok Clint... maybe you just need a little more time." She said softly.

"What fucking good am I to the team if I can't even fire my god damned bow." He sighed.

"You had a very serious injury babe... you nearly died, well technically you did for a few minutes. You just need some more physio is all. I'll help you. I'm with you every step of the way." she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Thanks Nat." he sighed.

Just then Tony wandered in to try out some new tech he had been working on. "Oh... am I interrupting a thing?" he asked.

"Nah it's ok man... I'm done here." Clint replied as he tossed his bow on the table and walked out.

"Everything ok there?" Tony asked Natasha, looking a little worried.

"He's just struggling with his injury." she informed him. "He can't fire his bow and he just feeling really frustrated."

"I'm sure he just needs more time to heal." Tony said.

"That's what I told him... but you know Clint. He's not the most patient man, and he feels like if he's not ready when it's time to fight he's going to be letting the whole team down." Natasha sighed. "I'm gonna go make sure he's okay" she said as she gave Tony a small smile and went to look for her boyfriend.

As Tony watched her leave he thought about what she had said about Clint's injury and not being able to use his bow and he had a sudden fantastic idea and abandoned what he was doing and rushed off to his lab.

* * *

When Tony found Clint again he was sitting on one of the couches in the living room. He seemed quite down and was staring out the window at what seemed like nothing, but who knew with his Hawkeye vision. Natasha was nearby in the kitchen making something to eat, Tony gave her a quick little smug smile almost as if to say 'you're gonna love me for this' as he placed a strange looking metal thing on the counter along with Clint's bow.

He wandered over to his teammate and pulling him out of his little trance he said. "Hey Legolas, I got something for ya."

"Tony, if it's another one of your three guys walked into a bar jokes... I'm really not in the mood." Clint sighed in response.

"It's not a joke, I promise. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. C'mon get up." Tony encouraged him as he gave him a soft clap on the back. "You're gonna love this."

"Alright Stark... what is it" Clint said finally turning around to look at his friend as he stood up from the couch. Tony held in his hand what looked like a shirt, only it had all sorts of straps attached to it. "What is this... a new uniform? Coz I gotta admit Stark, your design skills are slipping." he chuckled.

"This my friend." he began as he held the shirt up for Clint to get a better look, "Is a specially designed shirt to help aid the recovery of your shoulder as well as prove you with extra strength until you regain yours" Tony explained. "Right now take your shirt off... wow, not something I thought I would ever say to a guy." Tony laughed.

"Trying to get my man into bed Stark?" Natasha joked from the kitchen.

Clint was a little confused, but he trusted Stark so he removed his shirt and replaced it with the one that stark had made for him. "Now this shirt is made out of the same material that Jarvis and I made Natasha's knee brace out of. These straps will help support your shoulder" he said as he tightened one around Clint's arm then another one that went around his chest and connected to one that went over his shoulder. "Move your arm around and see how that feels" he instructed.

He did as he was told and moved his arm around and was surprised at how much better he felt. There was still pain but it was a lot duller and his shoulder felt really supported. "Wow Stark. This really makes a difference" he said with a grin and he looked over at Natasha who was beaming at him from the kitchen, happy to see him smiling again.

"Percentage wise where would you say your mobility is at?" Tony asked.

"Hmmm..." Clint thought for a moment as he moved his arm around. "Maybe 70 percent." he replied, but Tony looked a little disappointed. "But hey, that's a big improvement on before, I was at more like 40 percent of my normal strength. Thanks Tony." he grinned.

"Hold on there Robin Hood." he said as he looked at Natasha and nodded at Clint's bow. Getting the hint she tossed it to him. "Try aim your bow." he said as he handed it to him with an arrow.

Clint set the arrow in place and attempted to pull back the string. The pain in his shoulder was a lot less than earlier but the further he tried to pull back the bow string the more his shoulder hurt, even with the shirt tony had made him. "I can't do it." Clint sighed as he set the bow down. "I still can't pull it all the way. Thanks for trying thought Tony, the shirt really does make a big difference to the pain, and I'm sure it will help me heal faster."

"Don't mention it buddy." Tony grinned. "But I'm still not done yet." He looked back at Natasha and she tossed him the other strange metal thing he had placed on the counter. "This will get your back to 100 percent." Tony smiled in confidence "Maybe even more."

"What is it?" Clint asked confused as he eyed up the tiny metal package.

"Basically it the same kind of thing that is on the inside of my suit that aids my movement and gives me extra strength and power" Tony stated. He pressed a button on the metal object and two little arms came out. He pressed it against Clint's upper arm and the two metal pieces wrapped around his arm and joined together. Tony then pressed another button and from the small object began to unfold lots more metal pieces each wrapping around various parts of Clint's upper arm and shoulder and attaching itself to points on the shirt he was wearing.

"Give that a whirl and see what you think." Tony grinned.

Once again Clint began to move his arm around, this time with absolute ease and with next to no pain at all. "Holy shit Tony, this is amazing!" Clint laughed. "I feel almost good as new."

"One more test." Tony said as he pointed to Clint's bow.

Clint picked up his bow and began to line up a shot. Carefully he pulled the string back, waiting to feel the stabbing pain in his shoulder but there was nothing. He pulled a little further and his shoulder felt great. Finally he pulled it all the way back and he could feel the robotic brace on his arm and shoulder kick in and provide him with the extra strength he needed. Clint looked at Tony and grinned from ear to ear. He then looked at Natasha who was smiling back at him. "Let it fly" she said to him with complete trust.

He aimed the arrow off to the side of her, trusting in her abilities as well as his own he let the arrow loose. It soared through the air towards Natasha and with lightning speed she caught it mid-air right next to her.

"Wow... you two are one scary badass couple!" Tony laughed.

"Tony, I can't thank you enough" Clint said as he pulled his friend into a quick hug.

"No thanks necessary, this is what I do" he smiled as he turned and left the room, very satisfied with what he had accomplished.

Clint and Natasha exchanged looks, both grinning wildly at one another. Nothing made them happier than seeing the other happy.

* * *

As Eva and Bucky hadn't had much time lately to get into movies, so the team had decided to watch a horror film called Paranormal Activity. Everyone was starting to get nervous as the film progressed and Eva couldn't help but feel like this film might be telling the truth as the film got even more frightening. Liho the cat, hissed at the TV screen and jumped up on Natasha's lap, she stroked him gently as they all stared at the TV screen nervously and Bucky could feel Eva gripping his hand tightly when suddenly everything went dark.

"No need to panic, I'll get the power back on." Tony said reassuringly and everyone looked nervous. Eva couldn't help but feel on edge.

Tony turned on a torch and checked to see that everyone was alright, when they heard noise upstairs. "What was that?" Eva asked nervously as her hands glowed with dark purple energy then.

"Probably just a storm and it caused the power to go out." Bucky said reassuringly as everyone tried their phones then and saw that none of them had any signal.

Eva saw that her phone had a text and curiously opened it, only for it to be a voice recording and opened it.

 _"No survivors" The voice said eerily._

 _She flinched and backed away from the phone and she realised the others were now gone and swallowed. "Hello?" Eva called out nervously and she started looking around for them, when she heard laughing and swallowed before grabbing the star of David that had belonged to her mother, she felt very afraid now._

 _Then Yelena appeared in front of her, her face burned and showing fragments of vibranium. "You're not real, you're dead. You're dead!" Eva said desperately as Yelena raised the knife that she had used to kill Malia, eight years ago._

 _"See you in hell, Evangeline."_

 _Eva screamed in absolute terror as Yelena's face was changed into Natasha's and she lunged at her with the knife…._

* * *

"Eva, wake up, you're safe now." A voice said comfortingly.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

" _She looked like she was fending off an attack."_

"Evie, open your eyes please."

"I can't see." Eva said fearfully as she tried to open her eyes then but couldn't. All she could see before her was Yelena's smirking face in the darkness.

"Why won't you leave me alone?"

 _"Bucky, what's going on?" she heard a voice ask._

Bucky was there? He would protect her. He would save her. She tried to call out to him but no sound came out. "Oh... don't bother yelled for your precious Bucky." Yelena cackled. "He will soon be dead, just like you!"

"Get away from me!" Eva screamed as she tried to blast Yelena with her powers.

"Eva!" Bucky screamed as he frantically tried to wake her in fear that in her nightmare state she might unknowingly unleash her powers on her friends.

"What's happening to her?" Natasha asked worriedly.

"I... I don't know. It's like she's stuck in a nightmare. I can't wake her." Bucky said in a panic as he looked around at the team who were all watching on worriedly.

"Eva if you can hear me you are safe. Please I need you to wake up." he told her.

"Eva, its Natasha... come back to us." Her cousin spoke gently.

 _She could hear her friends talking to her but she couldn't see them. It had to be a dream. Yelena was dead. That crazy bitch couldn't hurt her or her friends anymore. But there she was sprinting towards her with a knife and it all felt so real, Eva was terrified and she began to scream.  
_  
"Eva... c'mon my love." Bucky whispered as he shook her gently.

 _"Eva let out a blood curdling scream as she jolted awake. She felt someone's hands around her wrists and she frantically tried to escape their clutches._ As she came to and looked around she saw it was Bucky who was holding her and the rest of her friends were all looking at her scared and worried.  
 _  
_"Yelena..." Eva whispered breathlessly. "She... I tried..."

"It's ok baby. She's gone, your safe I promise" Bucky said as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Wow! We are never ever watching horror movies with her again" Tony said still in shock.

"It's not Eva's fault Tony, I can't stand horror films that are gore for the sake of gore or just to scare the living hell out of you. I couldn't sleep for two hours after the film finished, I left the bedside lamp on." Pepper said protectively.

Tony didn't say anything to that but it was clear that he was going to do some research in the fact that if Eva powers were from Loki's sceptre, then maybe one of her powers was causing her nightmares and making her think they were actually real.

* * *

Eva had never felt so embarrassed and humiliated as she avoided the others the next morning at breakfast, she had cooked it but left before anyone had woken up and was now taking a shower, the hot water comforting her.

She was scared that her powers were somehow slowly and gradually making her mentally and emotionally unstable, why couldn't she just be happy with Bucky and the others?

"Eva, you alright?" Bucky asked quietly and Eva sniffled then before finishing washing her hair and rinsed it off before turning the shower off and wrapped a towel around her body before coming out and looked to see Bucky sitting on the bed.

"Not really, everyone must think I'm a crazy person." Eva said ashamed and Bucky took her hand then before she started getting dressed and sniffled.

"What if my powers are driving me insane, James?" She asked fearfully, confessing one of her darkest fears and Bucky pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

"That's not happening Eva, and you're not crazy." Bucky said reassuringly and held her as he realised she had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion.

* * *

Later that day Fury stopped by with some intel for the team. They had some confirmed sightings of Von Strucker. Somehow he had made it into the US and they believed he was in the possession of Loki's Staff. "We need to take down this nut job as soon as possible." Fury told them. "Who knows what kind of havoc he could conjure up with that thing."

"If he can use it the same way Loki could... I don't even want to know." Clint shuddered.

"He used that thing to experiment on me, I think that is what gave me my powers." Eva told them all.

"Then you might be our best chance at locating it, and Von Strucker." Natasha piped up.

"Romanoff is right, if the staff is what gave you your powers then you might have some sort of connection with it. Maybe you can use that to try an find it" Tony told her.

"It's worth a shot. Do you think you can do it babe?" Bucky asked as he looked at her softly. He knew she was worried about the staff, and about her powers affecting her mental state. But he trusted her more than anyone and he believed in her.

"I can try." Eva said.

"Ok... do you need anything?" Steve asked her.

"No, I just need everyone quiet for a moment so I can focus." Eva told them. She figured it would be similar to the way she could look into people's minds or talk to them inside their heads. She was just trying to focus on something that could be much further away. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She remembered back to when Von Strucker was experimenting on her, she focused on the staff, what it looked like, what it felt like when he touched it to her skin. The surge of energy that embraced her body. She focused on that energy and embraced it with all her power and it was like her mind was sent elsewhere. She had a vision of Von Strucker with a handful of men, he had the staff in his hand using it like a walking stick. They were walking towards a very large building that she felt like she had seen somewhere before. He was talking to the man next to him about a 'plan'. "Everything is on schedule, Ellis won't know what hit him." The man told Von Strucker.

 _'Oh god!'_ Eva thought to herself and she quickly let go of her vision and was brought back to her friends. She looked around at them with worry.

"Eva what is it?" Bucky asked.

"He's going after The President." She told everyone.

"Are you sure?" Steve said in shock.

"I saw it. He was walking with some men, towards a familiar looking building. They were talking about a plan. The man said 'Ellis won't know what hit him.'" she relayed.

"Do you know where he is?" Natasha asked.

"No... I couldn't tell. It looked familiar but I just don't know where I've seen it before."

"Can you describe the building?" Tony asked.

"Uhhh, it was large, mostly white. Huge pillars at the front and it had a dome on the top in the middle... I'm sorry that's all I can remember."

Tony tapped furiously on his tablet. "This?" he asked as he threw a picture up onto the big screen.

"That's it! That's the building!" Eva exclaimed.

"Oh shit." Fury cursed as he quickly dialled The President.

"What is it?" Eva asked.

"That is the U.S Capitol Building." Tony told her.

* * *

 _Enjoy and review :)_


	23. An Old Enemy

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 23

* * *

"Oh god, if Von Strucker sends someone in who has links to the Red Room then we'd be dealing with an international incident." Natasha said horrified.

"Suit up." Steve instructed everyone and they went to do as instructed by their team leader.

* * *

When the team was ready Clint flew the Quinjet to Washington and when the team got off the jet, they saw the area had been evacuated before they arrived and wondered where the man they were hunting was. That was when they heard a voice come across the loud speakers.

"Did you honestly believe HYDRA would give up so easily, Avengers?" The voice of Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker spoke.

"Hardly." Clint said dryly as they saw his enhanced army come out from the shadows and begin running towards them. They team did their best to fight them off while trying to find Von Strucker.

Eva conjured up her powers and began causing their weapons to rust and rot away, before completely disintegrating the enhanced soldiers. She used her telepathy to keep in contact with the rest of the team and make sure that they were all as safe as they could be.

She watched over James as he took down two enhanced while fighting by her side, she pulled out her collapsible Bo staff and began fighting off the ones who were too close to use her powers on as one of the enhanced made to kick her. Eva hit her with her Bo staff, then punched her in the face and knocked her out as Bucky took down two enhanced by tapping into the fury of the Winter Soldier. That was when he saw one of the enhanced Red Room operatives turning orange and he recognised it as the volatile and unstable extremis serum.

"Get down!" He yelled to the team and everyone dove for cover, only Natasha didn't get clear of the building fast enough and she was literally buried alive as the abandoned building crumbled around her and began to flood from the burst water pipes. Despite Eva throwing up an energy shield, it hadn't extended far enough to cover Natasha.

When bomb the enhanced soldiers extremis serum had combusted, Steve had thrown himself over Sharon, using the shield to cover them both as a large purple reddish shield appeared over them, forming a protective barrier as the buildings near by collapsed.

"You alright?" Steve asked worriedly as he checked over her and Sharon nodded as they cautiously stepped out and saw the others were fine as they emerged from Eva's shield. Everyone aside from Clint and Eva who were frantically searching for Natasha.

"Natasha?!" Clint called out desperately and tried to find her, she had been right by his side just before the blast. Eva tried to reach out for the telepathy bond link that she and Natasha had formed. She sensed a weak life pulse coming from the worst blown up part of the building, she raced over and screamed when she saw Natasha's hand sticking out from the water and panicked when she realised that the water was creeping higher and higher and Natasha was almost fully submerged.

"Someone help… get help please!" She begged as she started to move some of the debris frantically, only for the building to shake more violently, clearly unstable, as the firemen and rescue teams arrived.

"Miss please we need to get you out of here." A fireman implored gently and Eva shook her head.

"My cousin's buried alive under here and drowning! I can't leave her here to rot!" Eva said desperately as the others arrived and Bucky raced over. He paled at seeing how much water had leaked in and Natasha's left hand showed through some debris.

Clint ran over and fell to his knees then. "No, oh god… please no." With a strength he didn't even know he possessed Clint began lifting huge pieces of the building away from where Natasha's limp body was buried. Steve, Bucky and Tony all rushed over to help. Sharon instructed them to be careful lifting certain pieces so they didn't cause any further damage. When they finally uncovered her they found her completely submerged in water.

"Tasha!" Clint screamed as he pulled her out. Quickly dragging her away from the debris he lay her down and began performing CPR. It took a few moments but eventually she coughed up the water in her lungs and began breathing again, but she was still unconscious.

"Get her back to the Jet now. You need to assess her injuries." Steve said to Clint and Sharon. They both looked uneasy about leaving the fight, but they knew that making sure Natasha was ok was more important.

"Don't worry, we will handle Von Strucker." Steve told them as he and the rest of the team continued their search for him among the chaos.

* * *

Clint quickly carried Natasha to the Quinjet where he lay her down on the medical bed Tony had installed. It had all the latest technology, including x-ray machines. Sharon fired it up and began scanning Natasha's entire body, revealing many fractures and a few breaks as well. Multiple to her chest area which was very concerning.

"What have we got Jarvis?" Sharon asked the AI.

"Miss Romanov has multiple fractures to both arms as well as her left leg. She has four broken ribs and two minor fractures. She has multiple fractures in her left hand and a large contusion to the back of her head." Jarvis told them.

"Oh my god." Clint said worriedly. "What do we do?"

"Miss Carter... Mr Barton... it seems that Miss Romanoff is healing at an alarmingly accelerated rate?" Jarvis said a little confused.

"Part of her Red Room experiments. She heals fast" Clint said.

"As we speak the minor fractures are almost fully healed" Jarvis said astounded.

"Clint, roll her to her side and I will check her head wound" Sharon told him. She cleaned away the blood and put in half a dozen stitches, as well as administering some pain killers so when she woke up she wasn't in agony.

"Jarvis can you estimate how long before she is fully healed?" Clint asked.

"By my calculations, no more than an hour."

"What the hell?" Clint said confused. "She has never healed this quick before. Somethings wrong."

* * *

Shortly after the rest of the team arrived back at the Quinjet too, in all the chaos Von Strucker had escaped. The whole team felt deflated. They hadn't achieved anything and Natasha had been seriously hurt. The mission hadn't gone at all like they hoped.

By the time they had arrived at the Tower, it had become very clear something was seriously wrong with Natasha. Her injuries healing so quickly was a cause for concern, and it definitely wasn't normal, not even for her. But even with her fast healing she hadn't regained consciousness yet.

Tony swallowed and gripped the file he was holding, he braced himself and went to tell the rest of the team what he had discovered in Natasha's blood results.

* * *

Natasha's condition had worsened, she was very ill but no one could exactly explain why. Eva sat numbly outside, she had a feeling that Clint blamed her for what had happened and it was her fault, her shield hadn't been strong enough to protect her cousin from being hurt.

The door opened and she saw Clint come out then, she swallowed and looked at him quietly. "I know you hate me, and I am so sorry Clint, it should be me in that room and not Natasha. I am so sorry, and I wish I could do something to help." Eva said, pain and regret clear in her voice. Clint looked at her and was about to speak when he was interrupted by a couple of SHIELD agents followed by the rest of the team and they seemed to be arguing intensely.

"Agent Bobbi Morse and Alphonso Mackenzie." the woman introduced themselves as. "Miss Nikolayev and Miss Romanoff are to come with us." She told them.

"What!? Why?" Eva asked confused.

"You and Natasha Romanoff are suspected of aiding HYDRA." The blonde haired woman said coldly and placed her in cuffs before anyone knew what was going on.

"Where is Agent Romanoff?" The woman asked bluntly.

"In there, on her god damned death bed and I'll be damned if you are touching her!" Clint growled in anger.

"We'll be back for her." Agent Morse replied coldly before her and Agent Mackenzie dragged Eva away kicking and screaming. Tony was on the phone to Fury immediately while Steve had to hold Bucky back. The last thing they needed was a brawl between SHIELD agents.

This day was getting worse.

* * *

Bucky felt like killing something and it wasn't often he felt like that, his girlfriend was arrested and now imprisoned. Natasha was getting worse. Clint was on the war path and Tony was now showing them all the information he had gathered earlier, he looked like he wanted to be sick and swallowed.

"I think the Red Room and HYDRA were planning on using a new Red Room serum on the young girls. Natasha and Eva are on the list and were approved… even though they are no longer with the Red Room. The serums affects include accelerated healing, heightened strength, heightened senses and more, but they hadn't finished testing it to make sure it was safe and effective. Also I think the power from the sceptre is driving Eva slowly insane by using the fear manipulation." Tony explained. "Von Strucker experimented on her with it, and now she seems somehow linked to it, but it is messing with her mind."

"How do we stop it?" Bucky asked worriedly.

"We need to get our hands on the sceptre and try and reverse its effects on her, if not, we destroy it." Tony told him. "I hacked SHIELDS system, Eva's in a specially made underwater prison for enhanced and here's a video." Tony said grimly, the video showed Eva in a straight jacket with an electric shock collar that was digging into the skin, she looked ill and there were bruises on her face from where the guards had clearly beaten her.

Bucky suddenly grabbed his motorcycle keys and headed for the door.

"I gotta get her out of there."

"Bucky wait…" Steve said. "We do this as a team, Eva is family." He told his friend.

While Steve and the others planned a rescue for Eva, Clint, Tony and Sharon were taking care of Natasha. Sharon was busy administering drugs to keep her heartrate in check, while Clint sat by holding his girlfriend's hand tightly.

* * *

Tony was off to the side studying all the notes he had managed to dig up on HYDRA's Red Room serum, trying to find a way to reverse or neutralize it. Natasha was clearly receiving some of the intended side effects of the serum, but it was slowly killing her as well. Sharon had informed him that her body was starting to shut down. Her organs were beginning to fail and even though her body was healing itself, it was self-destructing faster. Her mind would be soon to follow and they needed to act quickly. She had 48 hours at the most.

Clint watched on as Tony babbled away to Jarvis, the two of them analysing the compounds within the serum, coming up with ways to counteract them. He was worried that at any moment SHIELD would burst through the door and take her away. He knew that she would stand no chance if that happened, this serum would kill her.

"Any luck Tony?" he asked hopefully.

"I think I almost have something here" he told him as he swirled something in a test tube before filling a syringe.

"Are you sure about this?" Sharon asked as she prepared to inject Natasha with Tony's freshly made concoction.

"Only one way to find out" he replied, a little unsure.

Sharon administered the drug and they all watched on in hope. Natasha's heart rate suddenly spiked and she began to have a seizure. Sharon quickly moved her to the recovery position and after a few moments she went still. Her heart rate dropped before it flat lined.

"What's going on!?" Clint yelled.

"I don't know!" Sharon said as she began chest compressions. After a brief moment Natasha gasped in a breath and sat bolt upright and looked around the room at her team mates.

"What the hell happened to me?" Natasha asked confused.

"Long story babe... thank god you're ok." Clint said as he pulled her into a hug.

"I certainly don't feel ok." She replied groggily.

* * *

Fury had just arrived and was deep in conversation with Steve. Between the two of them they were trying to figure out what was going on and why exactly Eva had been imprisoned. As director of SHIELD Fury had not even been informed and that had everything worried. The whole thing reeked of HYDRA.

What was worrying was that one further investigation they had found that Bobbi Morse had allied with HYDRA and had arrested Eva at their command. Everyone knew they needed to find Eva soon before something horrible happened to her. They could only imagine what HYDRA had planned for her.

Natasha who was now recovering, had completely lost it when she had found out what Bobbi Morse had done and that Eva was now arrested and being held at what they called The Raft.

"But why would they arrest Eva? She hasn't done anything wrong since joining us. In fact she has saved so many people?" Natasha asked quietly while Bucky stayed silent but everyone could tell he was on edge, he was worried about what they might be doing to Eva.

"I'm guessing it's because of her powers in a way, they are unique as they are linked to her emotions and that can make her dangerous. That is why SHIELD is going along with it, what they don't know is they are being played by HYDRA. I guess HYDRA didn't want to lose their specially created assassin, so they sent Morse after her so that they could get her back. With Morse being SHIELD they figured we would have no choice but to let her be taken into custody if we all wanted to continue working for SHIELD." Tony said quietly and Bucky closed his eyes then, wishing it all to be a bad dream.

 _'James?'_ Eva's voice asked telepathically and he swallowed quickly, wondering if he was imagining things.

 _'Eva, are you alright?'_ He asked quickly and Eva was silent for a moment before she spoke up then, using her telepathy.

 _'I'm fine James, are you alright? What about the others? Is Natasha alright?'_ Eva asked worriedly.

 _'We're fine doll, are you alright?'_ Bucky asked quietly, worried about Eva's safety in the Raft.

 _'Well I'm...doing ok, nothing bad happening.'_ Eva tried to reassure him but he sensed her fear through the telepathic link.

 _'We're going to get you out of there Eva, I promise.'_ Bucky said fiercely.

 _'I love you.'_ She said quietly.

 _'I love you too, Eva, so fucking much.'_ Bucky said quietly as he felt the connection break then and let out a deep sigh.

"They're doing something to her, I have to find her." He said to the others.

* * *

It seemed like days, but in reality it was only hours since Eva had been imprisoned in the Raft. She was happy that Bucky and the others were safe and that Natasha was recovering.

She closed her eyes for a minute and hummed a lullaby in Russian that her mother would sing to her, when one of the guards used a remote control to electrocute her and she cried out in pain before the door to her cell was open. Two guards entered then and checked on her before leaving again and she tried not to cry. Once again, she was alone. She wondered if she would see Bucky, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Sharon, Steve, Sam, and Pepper again. What did these people want with her? Why would SHIELD be doing this?

"Ah Miss Nikolayev, we meet again." A familiar voice said calmly and she looked up to see it was none other than Von Strucker.

"Strucker." she growled.

"So very nice to see you again Evangeline." He said all too politely. "How wonderful of you to drop by." He laughed.

"Go to hell!" Eva yelled at the mad man.

"Oh come now my dear... that's not very nice now is it?" Von Strucker asked as he pressed a button on the remote in his hand causing a large jolt of electricity to course through Eva's body. Her head dropped down as he released the button and she panted heavily. "Are we going to play nice now?" He asked.

"Bite me!" Eva growled and he began to shock her once more.

"Just you wait Miss Nikolayev... you will wish that all I did to you was bite you..." He said ominously as he sauntered from the room slamming the door and locking it behind him. Eva hoped that her friends found her soon. She wasn't sure how much more torture she could endure and she dreaded to think what Von Strucker had planned for her.

* * *

 _Review and enjoy :)_


	24. The Past Haunts Us

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 24

* * *

Eva leaned her head back against the wall and looked at herself in the mirror across the room which she was certain was two way glass. She was in a straight-jacket and the electric shock collar around her neck was digging into her skin harshly, causing blood to drip from the wounds. The slightest movement only made them worse.

* * *

Bucky was on edge as he listened to Steve and Clint explain to Natasha what had happened while she had been unconscious. Eva had been imprisoned in the Raft by Bobbi Morse on suspicion of being an undercover HYDRA agent, not only that but Natasha was a suspect too and they planned on coming back for her.

He just wanted to storm into that prison and get her out of there, he didn't care if he had to go alone, and Eva needed him.

"Alright, we're ready to move out." Steve said finally and Natasha stood up, she was dressed and suited up, completely healed.

"I'm coming with you."

"Babe, are you sure..." Clint began to say before Natasha shot him a dirty look, daring him to utter one more word. But Clint knew better than to pick that fight. Instead he smiled sweetly and said. "I got your back."

The team piled onto the Quinjet and Clint flew them to the co-ordinates that Fury had provided. There they met up with the Director who took them to the facility on a boat. He would use his top level clearance to get them in discreetly so that they could rescue Eva, who he knew had been wrongly imprisoned. He knew for sure that she wasn't HYDRA, she hated them and everything they stood for. Eva had proven herself to the team and himself plenty of times, so he didn't need to think twice about helping the team get her out. Once they had entered the facility they made their way to the lower levels where Eva was being held, Fury alongside them.

Tony hacked their system to turn off the security cameras and find Eva's exact location. They were taking no chances at this point they didn't know who was SHIELD and who was HYDRA, so they had to regard everyone as a threat. Making their way through the corridor they came across two guards standing in front of a door, Tony informed them that it was where Eva was being held. Natasha threw a couple of her widow's bites at them, rendering them unconscious before they proceeded to the door.

The door had a security code and Tony hacked into it, before the door clicked open and they all saw a very ill looking Eva. She had a straight jacket on that stopped her from moving her arms and she had a metal collar on her neck that was digging into her skin. As they rushed into the room, Strucker, who had been in the room interrogating her, shocked her and she collapsed on the floor in pain.

Bucky saw red at seeing Eva, his partner and the woman he loved being electrocuted by Strucker. He let out a vicious snarl and charged at him, he began mercilessly beating him, punching him until he was bloody and then grabbed him by the throat as he hauled him to his feet and pinned him against the wall.

"We will take him into SHIELD custody." Steve said. Bucky wanted to kill the man but he knew that would be wrong, no matter how evil he was.

"You cannot contain my power… You cannot contain our forces. Wherever you take my Psyche, I will find her and she will be my perfect soldier! Hail HYDRA!" Strucker shouted defiantly and Bucky could think rationally but every inch of his body told him to end this vile man so he broke Strucker's neck violently, dropping him onto the ground before racing over to Eva who was looking dully ahead.

"Guess we're not taking him in…" Fury replied calmly.

"Good riddance I say." Natasha added in.

"One less sick bastard in this world." Fury replied coolly.

She had cuts and bruises that were healing up but the cuts on her neck looked even more painful, he gently pulled it off the jacket and undid the collar and Eva slumped into his arms.

"We need to get her to the hospital, she looks really bad." Sharon said concerned as she saw Eva's eyes looking unresponsive as she suddenly had a seizure.

"Turn her on her side!" Sharon shouted quickly and they turned Eva as she rode out a severe seizure. Bucky looked shocked and grabbed her hand, she gripped it tightly and at that minute began to throw up blood.

"Jesus Christ!" Tony shouted shocked, Rhodey looked alarmed and Eva sobbed in pain then, Bucky gently but carefully picked her up and she struggled to speak.

"What the hell did they do to her?" Natasha demanded terrified, Sharon shook her head grimly.

"Tony can we give Eva the same thing we gave Nat?" Clint asked, very concerned about Eva's current state.

"I... I don't know." Tony said in a panic. "Maybe... I mean if they were injected with the same stuff it should help. But we should test Eva's blood to make sure before I go putting anything more into her system. We need to get her back to the lab ASAP!" Tony said.

"You guys go." Steve said to Tony, Bucky, Sharon, Natasha and Clint. "The rest of us will stay here with Fury to round up any remaining members of Hydra. Just save Eva." he said worriedly.

"Take the boat." Fury instructed. "Hill's on the way with another boat and more agents."

They certainly didn't need to be told twice. Carefully Bucky and Clint carried Eva out of the facility and loaded her gently into the boat. Tony flew back to the tower at full speed to prep more of the serum he had used on Natasha while Clint drove the boat back as fast as he could. Once at the shore they loaded up on the Quinjet and headed straight for the tower. Eva's condition was worsening and there was no telling how much time they had, not a second was wasted in their race to get back home.

"Lay her down there." Tony instructed as the others arrived at his lab carrying a barely conscious Eva. "Sharon can you take a sample of her blood please."

Eva began to panic, she was confused and disoriented. Bucky had to hold her still while Sharon took some of her blood, and shortly after she slipped out of consciousness. Tony quickly began analyzing her blood sample with some help from Jarvis.

"Sir... it appears that Miss Nikolayev has been injected with the same serum as Miss Romanoff, however I do detect something different." the AI told him.

"What is it J?"

"I'm not quite sure Sir, it appears that Miss Nikolayev has much higher levels of the serum in her bloodstream, I am analyzing it now but it may take time. The dosage may be wrong".

"Jarvis we don't have time... will the serum help or make things worse?"

"I believe it will help Sir. She just may need several doses. I will know more once I have done my calculations."

"Do it." Tony said as he handed the syringe to Sharon.

"Tony are you sure?" Bucky said worriedly as he grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I'm sure that it won't make things any worse than they already are. We don't have time to wait. Your girlfriend is dying Barnes."

"Ok." he agreed as he let go of Tony's arm. Everyone watched on anxiously, hoping that the serum would help. Bucky stood by holding her hand tightly while Clint had his arms around Natasha.

Shortly after the serum was injected into her veins Eva began to convulse violently before her heart monitor flat lined.

"What's happening!?" Bucky screamed.

"Just give it a moment... the same thing happened with Nat." Clint told him as he put a comforting hand on his shoulder. And sure enough a moment later Eva gasped for breath and began looking frantically around the room.

"Eva... It's ok my love I'm here." Bucky told her softly.

"James." she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him.

"It's me doll, you're safe now, you're safe now." Bucky whispered reassuringly and Eva sighed in relief then for a minute, before falling asleep in his arms.

"I think she's exhausted from the lack of sleep, plus now that the serum kicked in, I think she can now sleep without having any nightmares." Tony said pleased for Eva as the woman question snuggled into Bucky.

Natasha held her hand and she squeezed it tightly in her sleep, a smile on her face as she fought back a yawn but Clint made her lay down on the sofa that was in the room and she crashed out too.

* * *

The next morning Fury instructed the team to rest and recover from everything that had happened and they agreed with him. Eva was curled up into Bucky, wearing an old and comfortable pair of black sweatpants with a large black t - shirt that had the photo of a black cat with bright green eyes. Bucky held her close as they were planning to go out dancing, have some fun and let loose. There was a charity ball being held in a couple of weeks.

"Maybe we should all do it? You know it would be fun to see Rodgers performing the Swing dance with Sharon." Tony suggested and everyone agreed.

"It would be nice to be normal for once and just go dancing with my girl." Steve said thoughtfully and Sharon smiled as she cuddled up into him.

"When everything's died down, we probably need to figure out what the dress code is." Pepper said thoughtfully.

"Already on it Miss Potts, the dress code for the first dance is 1940s themed." Jarvis informed them.

Bucky hoped no one saw the sudden look of alarm on his face then, did that mean they would have to wear their old army uniforms?

"I think you two would look handsome in your old army uniforms, it would be kind of sexy." Sharon suggested as she gave Steve a small nudge and everyone nodded in agreement.

"So who's in?" Tony asked excitedly. The whole team held up their hands and after Bucky got over his initial nerves he put his hand up too. He wanted to dance with his dame.

"Alright, I'll book it up and you girls better go to the vintage stores and find something to wear, it's in two weeks' time." Tony added.

"Do we have to wear our Army uniforms?" Bucky asked finally, there was no way he was shaving or cutting his hair for this.

Over the next few weeks the woman had all gone out shopping together, it took a while and visits to multiple stores but eventually each of them found the perfect dress and they couldn't wait for the dance. With the fight against HYDRA they had all gone through so much, Natasha and Eva more than most, a night of fun and dancing was much needed.

* * *

As the evening had finally approached, the women were all getting ready together. They had managed to keep their outfits secret from their partners and were all looking forward to the surprise reveal.

Meanwhile the guys were all getting ready in their 1940s suits with a little style input from Tony. Steve had decided to wear his old formal army attire, while Bucky had chosen to go with a suit that Tony had suggested. As much as he enjoyed his army days with Steve, it also reminded him too much of HYDRA and what they had done to him. Being kept as the Winter Soldier for all those years, he didn't even own his old army uniform and finding one that wasn't a museum piece could have been difficult. He much preferred the suit anyway, at least then he didn't have to be clean cut and shaven. He knew how much Eva liked the way he looked and he wasn't about to change it.

Steve seemed nervous as he adjusted his tie for what seemed like the millionth time. "Buddy relax." Bucky told him. "It's just a dance."

"Easy for you to say, you used to go dancing all the time... I never..." Steve confessed.

"You never got to go dancing? Not even with Peggy?"

"We planned to, but you know the whole getting frozen in ice thing happened."

"You at least know how right?" Tony piped up.

"Kinda..."

"Oh god." Tony said as he put his face in his hands. "Right Cap... come here. Jarvis play something slow."

"What are you doing...?"

"Teaching you how to dance" Tony said simply.

"That's not necessary." Steve replied feeling a little awkward.

"C'mon Cap! You want to impress your lady don't you?" Clint added in as he placed his tie around his neck.

"Yeah, I do... but..."

"Don't tell me the brave Captain America is afraid of dancing." Tony joked.

"I'm not afraid... just out of practice."

"We will fix that... come on now. One time offer, let's go!" Tony said as he beckoned Steve.

After a few awkward minutes of Tony instructing Steve, and Steve standing on his toes he was finally getting the hang of it. He was now taking the lead and dancing almost perfectly to the slow music.

"Right Jarvis… play something we can swing to." Tony instructed.

"Tony, that's really not." He began before he was cut off.

"Rodgers… just go with it. You have waited over seventy years to go dancing, just let me help you make it perfec.t" Tony said as he began to instruct Steve how to do the swing dance. He was a very quick learner and it didn't take him long until he had it down.

"Well done buddy. You're good to go! Sweep that gal off her feet!" Tony said as the music finished. And just in time as the elevator dinged and the ladies emerged, and there was nothing but shock and admiration written on the faces of all the men.

Pepper had gone for a nice blue dress with Sharon going for a nice darker blue, the dresses weren't too flashy but they were beautiful.

Besides Sharon had known a lot about 1940s fashion as Peggy would show her the clothes she used to wear, Natasha and Eva were both wearing dark red pencil shaped dresses. Then again their dresses were all pencil shaped, emphasising their curves and they had all styled their hair. Sharon had done her hair up in victory rolls as had Pepper while Eva and Natasha had done something similar. It suddenly occurred to Clint that Natasha's red hair had grown very long and was now the same length as Eva's.

The women smiled at their partners but they simply stared back in shock, Eva smiled as she took in Bucky, he looked handsome in his suit but she did wonder why he wasn't wearing his uniform, but decided not to bring it up, he must have had a good reason.

"Damn, you ladies look hot." Tony whistled as he embraced Pepper and she smiled at him as they began to leave and head to the building where the dance was being held.

* * *

Bucky walked with Eva, the two holding hands and they saw that everyone was celebrating the end of the Second World War by either wearing costumes or just singing the national USA anthem. Once they reached the hall, people were either in suits or army uniforms. Bucky looked at Eva who smiled at him and they all began dancing to the 1940s music that was playing.

Bucky and Eva both cheered as they saw Steve and Sharon dancing, Steve it seemed had gotten confident and was now dancing with ease as they all cheered him on.

Bucky danced with Eva, before he threw her over his strong shoulders and she laughed happily before he let her go and they started dancing again.

The dance was being held for a charity event and the Avengers were happy to help, Eva and Natasha signed autographs along with the rest of the team.

All of them had followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Not to mention all the video footage of their fights that had made it to YouTube and gotten millions of views.

Eva loved Bucky so much, she'd love to settle down, get married and have children with him. Bucky held her tightly as they danced and rested his forehead against hers, she smiled and held him tightly.

"I love you so much, James." She whispered softly and Bucky smiled at her as he looked down at her.

"I love you too, Eva."

* * *

The others smiled as they watched Bucky and Eva dance, Clint and Natasha were dancing, and they were like professionals.

"I bet twenty dollars that Bucky and Eva will be getting hot and dirty tonight." Tony said to Sam as he observed how intensely in love the couple looked as they moved across the dancefloor together.

Sam smirked as he eyed a beautiful lady across the room. He looked at Tony and grinned. "I'm hoping they aren't the only ones getting lucky tonight." He said as he sauntered off towards the woman.

"Go Sam." Pepper said quietly as she wrapped her arms around Tony and eyed the lady their team mate was talking to. She was medium height, African American with short black hair. She wore a beautiful black and silver dress that hugged her in all the right places and she looked stunning.

She turned back to Tony and whispered seductively. "Care for a dance Mr Stark?"

"Don't mind if I do." He replied as he took her hand and led her out onto the dancefloor, joining the rest of the team.

* * *

Natasha and Clint seemed like pros as they swayed together in perfect unison. With all the undercover work they did together it was no wonder they had become extremely good at dancing. They looked more at ease than ever. Normally it would all be an act, pretending to be people they aren't with the mission always at the front of their minds, always watching people and searching for exits, but tonight... tonight was all about just being who they are with the people they loved.

"Tasha..." Clint whispered in her ear as he held her close sending a shiver down her spine.

"Mmmhm?" She replied as her hands gently caressed the muscles in his back.

"I have something I need to tell you." He said, and she stopped suddenly, worry written all over her face. "Well actually it's more something I want to ask you." He continued. Her expression changed from worry to confusion. With all their friends nearby and the sound of soft music in the background Clint dropped down to one knee and suddenly it hit Natasha what was happening.

Everyone around them stopped dancing and watched on in anticipation, the band still playing quietly. They guys all knew Clint's plan, he had discussed it with them and asked for their blessings and advice and they were more than happy about it.

Natasha put her hand over her mouth in shock and tried her best to keep her emotions in check. Clint held on to her other hand and squeezed it gently.

"Natasha... you and I have been partners, friends for many years now. But to me you have always been more than that. I've loved you since the day we met. I can't explain it but there was just always something about you. You are captivating. And when I finally told you how I felt, I was relieved to hear you say that you felt the same way. You have been by my side through good and bad, and I couldn't imagine my life any other way. So Tasha... will you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?" Clint asked as he opened a small box to reveal a beautiful diamond and ruby ring.

Her hands trembled slightly at what had just happened. She was overwhelmed with happiness and excitement but she felt a little scared too. But she pushed that fear aside and took the opportunity to seize what she had always wanted. A life. A normal life... with Clint.

"Yes... of course, yes!" Natasha whispered before Clint stood up and wrapped his arms around her spinning her around. When he placed her back on the ground he kissed her passionately and the entire room burst into applause and they could hear cheers from their friends and teammates.

"I love you." Clint whispered as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

"I love you too." Natasha replied tenderly.

* * *

The next morning, Eva was sitting in the living room thinking over what had happened last night, she was happy for Natasha and Clint but also wondered if she and Bucky would ever be able to get married and have children someday. All she wanted was a normal life.

She smiled slightly and realised that someone was knocking at the door, she opened it to reveal Happy Hogan.

"Hey Happy." She greeted kindly and the man smiled at her as he handed her a package that had been delivered to her and Natasha, she smiled at him.

"A woman dropped it off for you and Natasha, said it was your family legacy." He informed her and she nodded in thanks before Happy sat down on the couch to watch Downtown Abbey, his guilty pleasure.

Eva opened the package and saw a note attached to the parcel, she quietly read it.

 _'I believe your father's would have wanted their daughters to inherit their legacies.'  
_  
There was no name.

Eva pulled out the wrapping and saw it was a bunch of old files, she read them quietly and saw a DVD tucked into the back of one of the folders and it was titled, The Winter Soldier Program. Cautiously Eva, played it in her laptop and saw to her shock Bucky was strapped on a metal table, partially unconscious and there were two doctors working on his left arm.

It was made out of metal.

 _"Dr Nikolayev, how is our Winter Soldier progressing?" He inquired and she looked at the date._

'12th of October, 1993.'

This was two days after her parents had supposedly died in the train crash, on Friday the 10th of October.

Her father and uncle had created Bucky's old metal bionic arm and she looked at the other doctor.

That was Arnim Zola.

"Jarvis, run a security scan of who dropped this off to Happy!" She called out quickly.

"Of course, Miss Nikolayev." Jarvis said kindly and ran a scan and she saw a dark haired young woman and her blood ran cold as she looked st the woman.

"Jarvis, who is this woman?" She asked quietly.

"I believe her name is Katrina Larissa Vanko, the daughter of the late Ivan Vanko and the granddaughter of Anton Vanko, she was believed to have been adopted by English parents." Jarvis informed her and Eva cursed.

"Thank you Jarvis and please tell the others that I am going on an errand." Eva said grimly and grabbed her motorcycle keys before leaving a note for the others next to the food she had cooked.

She hurried down to the garage and drove off on her black motorcycle onto the highway.

* * *

Bucky woke up to see Eva must already be up and after getting dressed, as he and Eva had rather had a passionate night, he saw she had already cooked breakfast for them and had gone out on an errand.

"Hey Jarvis, where did Eva go?"

* * *

 _Uh oh, something is going on. Enjoy and review :)_


	25. Hold Me Tight

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

 **AN: I'm sorry for the delay in updating Divided We Fall, my laptop got ruined after water spilt on it but I have a new one luckily now, and I can update regularly.**

 **Divided We Fall, and Soldiers And Spies will be updated on Saturdays.**

Soldiers And Spies

Chapter 25

* * *

"I am unsure Mr Barnes. She said she was running an errand." Jarvis said concerned. "But she accessed this security footage before she lef.t" he continued to say as he played back the footage of the woman dropping off the parcel for Eva and Natasha.

"Do we know who she is?" Bucky asked.

"Katrina Vanko." Jarvis told him as he put all the information up on the nearby screen.

"There's a last known address here... I bet she's gone looking for her." Bucky told Jarvis as he grabbed the keys to his motorcycle and headed down to the garage. Whatever this woman had dropped off, it obviously had Eva rattled and that worried him. He'd hoped that by now she wouldn't feel the need to keep anything from him. He knew he had to go after her, he had to make sure she was safe.

Eva pulled up not far from the address Jarvis had shown her. She went the rest of the way on foot, so that she could slip in undetected if need be. It was a strange place for a residential address. It looked more like an old factory, not somewhere one would usually live. Using her training she carefully scouted the area, making sure there were no surveillance cameras nearby. When she was sure she wasn't being watched Eva found a partially open window near a fire escape ladder and made her way up, climbing quietly through and into the old building.

She found Katrina waiting for her and felt her blood boil. There was a TV screen with a DVD playing live footage of Eva on the bench next to her.

She glared at the woman. "What do you want, Katrina?" Eva asked wearily as she regarded the dark haired young woman who smiled at her coldly.

"It's simple Evangeline, I want you to give me Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff along with James Rhodes. They murdered my father, and I will make them pay." Katrina explained calmly.

"Your father was a mad man who hurt and killed innocent people, just so he could get revenge." Eva said calmly as she glanced at the woman while carefully surveying the layout of the building.

"Does your boyfriend know about what your father and Natalia's father did to him when he was woken up from cryosleep?" Katrina taunted as he held up a file and Eva's face darkened.

"He doesn't know yet, as I've only found out today that my father and uncle were the one who created his metal arm." Eva said darkly and Katrina smirked at her.

"Oh look, the Winter Soldier arrives." Katrina said sarcastically as she saw Bucky arrive through the same window that Eva had and he took his place beside her.

"What do you want Katrina?" Bucky asked coldly.

"To tell you the truth, my family were ruined by the Stark and Nikolayev families so I think it's time to avenge my father and grandfather whose lives were ruined!" Katrina declared and glared at them both before pressing a switch.

The TV screen changed and they both saw footage of Bucky lying on the table in what appeared to be a HYDRA facility with two doctors working on his arm.

 _"Where am I?" Bucky asked confused, his voice tinged with pain.  
_  
 _The two doctors exchanged a remorseful look with each other, Eva immediately recognised the dark haired man with the slightly longer hair as her father, Yuri Nikolayev. The other man had to be Mikhail Nikolayev, Natasha's father._

 _"Sergeant Barnes, you fell off a train in the Alps. You lost your left arm in the fall." Yuri_ _explained gently while Mikhail put on the cybernetic metal arm. "You have been… asleep for some time now."_

 _Bucky look horrified._

 _"What year is it?" He asked hoarsely._

 _"1998." Mikhail informed him and Bucky saw they both wore wedding rings and Star of David necklaces._

 _"You're married?"_

 _"Yes, my brother and I were married but we lost our wives at the hands of HYDRA. We have two daughters and the last I heard they were together and training to be ballet dancers. They are the reason we are here." Mikhail said fondly as he showed him a photo of a little toddler, Natasha._

 _Bucky smiled. "She's beautiful, what about you?" Bucky asked quietly and Yuri smiled before showing him the photo of an eleven year old Eva smiling in the photo._

 _"She's really beautiful, what happened to get you both kidnapped by HYDRA?" Bucky asked quietly._

 _"They wanted us for scientific purposes, when we refused, they killed our wives and threatened my Eva's life. If the rumours are true, our little girls have been taken from the orphanage where they were safe to become pawns of the Red Room program." Yuri said bitterly and looked at him._

 _"What do they want with me?" Bucky asked._

 _"I am sorry, HYDRA plans to use you as their top assassin." Mikhail said sadly and Bucky said nothing._

 _"Did we beat Hitler at least?" He asked finally and the two brothers smirked before nodding._

 _"Hitler committed suicide along with his whore, some of his top men were hanged at the trials while some went on the run. I'm hoping Josef Mengele died in agony like the bastard he is." Yuri said viciously._

 _"The mad doctor?" Bucky asked quietly._

 _"The Angel of Death, that animal murdered hundreds of people. My beloved Marina went through hell because of him. May he rot in hell for the crimes he committed, I only pray to god that my daughter and niece never see evil like him." Yuri said savagely and suffered a coughing fit as Mikhail sat him down when a dark haired entered._

Eva tensed.

"Lukin." She spat disgusted as the footage ended there.

"Wait... you know Lukin?" Bucky asked Eva.

"He was affiliated with the Red Room." Eva replied. "How do you know him?"

"He was my handler for a while." Bucky growled.

"Makes sense." Eva said. "After all HYDRA was always working with the Red Room, we know that now."

"Eva... did you... did you know your father and uncle were responsible for this?" He asked, holding up his metal arm, looking slightly confused and angry.

"James, I swear I had no idea. My father and Uncle were supposedly dead. I had no idea that they had worked on you, not until Katrina showed me the footage." she swore. Bucky believed her, he knew that she would never lie to him. The pair turned their attention back to Katrina.

"What do you want from us?" Bucky ground out through gritted teeth. "If you are trying to tear us apart, drive a wedge between us I can tell you now it's not going to work! Eva and I will always be together no matter what. So what if her family helped create The Winter Soldier. They were forced into it, just like I was. I know they had no choice, and they had to protect Eva and Natasha, otherwise they never would have gone through with it!"

"It's cute that you think that's all I'm trying to do. No... I have much bigger plans in store for you two!" Katrina laughed maniacally before setting off some sort of smoke grenade as she disappeared through the mist, leaving Bucky and Eva to wonder what they hell they had just gotten themselves into.

"C'mon let's get out of here." Bucky said quietly as he took Eva's hand, he noticed that she didn't look like herself, dark rings were under her eyes and she looked like she was losing weight. Worry burned through him, Eva hadn't said a word as they walked through the building toward the exit when he suddenly smelt petrol.

"Get down!" He shouted quickly and pushed Eva underneath him as a fire ripped through the building, blowing up half of the warehouse and causing the ground to shake. When it was clear, Bucky saw that Eva had put them under her energy shield to stop them from getting hurt as they stood up and made their way to the door Eva found another letter taped to the handle.

 _'Dear Evangeline._

 _Does your fiancée know that one of the HYDRA trained soldiers, Josef, who sexually assaulted you were just fifteen years old?'_

Eva swallowed back bile and was about to burn it, when Bucky saw what she was holding and read it himself, she watched worriedly as his face darkened with rage and hatred.

For the first time since falling in love with James...Eva felt frightened, but not of him but for him.

"Come on." He said finally and took her hand as they left to go to the tower and inform the others of what was going on.

* * *

Since Katrina's appearance, the rest of the team noticed that there was a very thick tension between the couple. Natasha finally decided to stage an intervention along with Steve and the others when they saw Bucky and Eva shouting at each other after a team training session.

The shouting match had gotten ugly, with Bucky yelling that he didn't keep secrets and Eva finally bursting into tears and sobbing that she was sorry and fled the room. Bucky left shortly after to take his frustrations out on a punching bag.

In the living room, the girls had come to look over wedding magazines and venues. Natasha, Pepper, Sharon and Maria and with Sam's new girlfriend, Tessa from the dance, were all crowded around the table when Eva entered with the flowers that Natasha liked and began showing the arrangement to her.

"Alright Eva, what's going on between you and Bucky?" Natasha asked gently but with a serious kind of tone. Eva didn't speak for a moment and she sniffled a little before speaking.

"I don't know, ever since Bucky saw that footage of my father and your father giving him the metal arm and finding out I knew Lukin and that Josef...raped me, he's been distant. He won't hold me, touch me or kiss me, and when I try to touch him, he pushes me away." Eva said brokenly and tears streamed down her face before she wiped her eyes.

Natasha, Sharon, Pepper and Tessa exchanged sad and shocked expressions as they listened to Eva.

"Do you still love him?" Tessa asked gently and Eva nodded, tears swimming down her face lightly and it occurred to all of them how tired Eva looked.

"I love him so much, I tried to talk to him but he ignored me and then said I kept secrets. I didn't tell James, because I was terrified he would go looking for Josef and end up getting hurt." Eva sobbed and sniffled.

She then took two tablets and drank them down with a large glass of whiskey. "I've lost him, I've lost James." she sobbed, and the women exchanged worried looks.

* * *

Bucky wiped the sweat off his forehead as he yanked off the boxing gloves and drank from his bottle of water as he thought of Eva and how distant he was from her.

He felt awful for shouting at her, he knew she was having nightmares and that he hadn't touched her since Katrina had showed them the video of Eva being raped by Josef, the elite member of HYDRA's death squad.

That bastard had raped Eva, even though she had only been a fifteen year old young girl, that man had raped her and scarred her emotionally for life.

Bucky and Eva hadn't slept together since the 1940s dance, it was now four weeks and he was worried about her, her nightmares had been taking their toll on her and she was losing weight. He always heard her crying at night and all he wanted was to comfort her, but his guilt was holding him back. He bit his lip in frustration, just as the door opened and he saw Clint and Steve approach.

"Barnes, we need to talk to you." Clint said firmly but not unkindly.

"I don't wanna talk." Bucky replied somewhat angrily as he continued to strike at the punching bag again.

"Well then, you're gonna listen" Steve told him firmly. "We know that something is going on with you and Eva. We know that things haven't been the same ever since you're run in with Katrina. We want to help you Buck. But we can't do that if you won't let us."

"The only thing that will help is to kill the son of a bitch who..." He trailed off, realising what he was about to divulge.

"Who what Buck? Who are you talking about?" Steve pressed. Bucky breathed a deep sigh as he hit the bag once more, as hard as he could as he let out a growl.

"C'mon man, talk to us." Clint pleaded. "We hate seeing you guys like this."

"He raped her!" Bucky growled angrily as he slumped down to sit on the floor with his head in his hands looking rather defeated.

"Eva?" Steve questioned. "Somebody raped Eva!?"

"In the Red Room, she was only fifteen." Bucky told his friends, the anger and pain clear in his voice.

"And you only just found out about this?" Clint asked. "Sounds like you know the guy?"

"Katrina very kindly showed me video footage, care of Lukin... that bastard. Seems they are working together on whatever they have planned."

"Lukin... you've told me about him, he was your handler right? Did he do this to Eva?" Steve asked, a hint of anger in his tone.

"No... It's worse than that." Bucky sighed, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Who was it buddy?" Clint asked gently.

"His name is Josef... and I trained him for HYDRA." Bucky sobbed. "I trained that sick bastard... and he raped a young girl... a girl who would grow into the woman that I now love!" He said helplessly.

"Shit." Clint sighed. "Bucky you know that this isn't your fault right?"

"I trained him... I cleared him for field operations. I might as well have set him on her myself!"

"C'mon Buck... you know that's not true. Winter Soldier or not, you are a good man. If you knew anything about it you never would have let him do anything like that. I know you, I know the kind of man you are." Steve tried to reassure him.

"I don't know what to do guys. I can't touch her... I can barely look at her without all this guilt and anger burning inside of me."

"You guys need to talk it over. Clear the air. I know that you're mad that she didn't tell you about what happened to her, but honestly it's probably really hard for her to talk about. I know that the Red Room days were the worst days of Natasha's life, and I'm still finding out about more things that went on there. I'm sure that in time she would have told you, Katrina just forced her hand. I don't think she would intentionally keep things from you." Clint told Bucky.

"Clint's right." Steve agreed. "Eva was so young when she was recruited, she probably needs to process things in her mind before she can get them out in the open you know."

"She can trust me... she knows that." Bucky said quietly.

"And she does trust you Buck. More than anyone. Just talk to her, keeping this bottled up isn't gonna help. And not telling her about Josef might only make things worse." Steve told him.

"Yeah, you're right." He replied, wiping the tears from his face. It wasn't often he showed his vulnerable side. But Steve and Clint were his two closest friends, and Eva was the love of his life. It was hard not to wear his heart on his sleeve when it came to her. "I'm gonna go find Eva." He said as he got up from the floor. "I might shower first." He said as he realized how sweaty he was.

"Good call bud." Clint said as he gave him a clap on the back.

"Were always here for you Bucky." Steve said as he gave his friend a quick hug.

"Thanks guys." Bucky smiled as he turned to leave the room.

* * *

After showering and having something to eat, Eva was trying to get some rest although she was absolutely terrified of going to sleep because of her nightmares. She closed her eyes and curled up under the bedsheets, burying her face into the pillows, she was holding tightly onto Bucky's red henley shirt and it still smelt of him.

"Please come back to me, James." She whispered sadly and tried her best to get some much needed sleep.

 _Eva walked around cautiously as she realised that she was in her childhood home in the city of Saint Petersburg and almost relaxed at the familiar surroundings, until she heard a voice that made her blood run cold._

 _"Hello zhena." A male voice said calmly with a Russian accent, Eva quickly turned around and screamed when she realised it was Josef and he was looking at her with that menacing stare._

 _"Stay away from me!" Eva said firmly and backed away from him. As she ran upstairs away from him, he laughed and chased after her. Eva kept on running down the hallway and began calling out for Bucky and the others._

 _"No one is going to save you, Evangeline! You're all alone and no one will miss you or mourn your death, you little Jewish bitch!" Josef said snidely and Eva kept on running faster. She finally jumped out of the back window of the house and raced into an abandoned Costco, no one was around and she found a radio, she shakily tried to speak through it._

 _"Murderer! Killer! Shame on the family!" A voice screamed enraged and Eva dropped it quickly and she ran and hid in the camping department, her heart pounding in her chest. Then she saw someone up ahead. Was that James?_

 _"James?" Eva whispered quietly but hopefully when she recognised his clothes, she quickly raced over to him as she saw to her horror, it was Josef in Bucky's uniform._

 _"Sorry Evangeline, your Winter Soldier isn't going to save you this time! You belong with me!" Josef said smugly as he pulled out a knife and Eva screamed._

 _She was pushed through a tunnel and found the body of dead blonde haired women who looked like her. When she realised who it was she screamed at the sight of her friend Malia and tried to escape from the tunnel when Josef grabbed her and pulled her out before backhanding her. He threw her in a marsh, and began to bury her alive._

 _"Goodbye Evangeline."_

* * *

Bucky heard the terrified cries and sobbing in the middle of the night and ran for their room. He saw Natasha on the way, she must have heard the screams too, but when they reached the room they found it empty.

"Jarvis, where did Eva go?" Bucky asked quickly,

"Miss Nikolayev is in the living room, she is drinking whisky and appears deeply distressed. I fear this may have gotten worse when a package arrived for her. Her vitals are erratic. I fear she may try to hurt herself due to her distress." Jarvis said concerned.

Bucky felt his blood run cold and saw Natasha look frightened, they ran upstairs to the living room to find Eva sitting on the sofa, looking at a box that was wrapped up in a pink ribbon.

"Eva?" Bucky asked quietly and Eva didn't respond, now he was near her, he saw how the nightmares and his distance from her had taken their toll on her. She looked thin and frail, like she hadn't eaten or slept properly in weeks.

She opened the parcel and the blood drained from her face, Bucky quickly took it from her and saw it was a letter addressed to Eva and it was threatening.

 _'Dear 'Evangeline,_

 _I'm watching you, I know your routine and I know that you hate horror films, so behave yourself and be a good girl otherwise I WILL FIND YOU AND PUNISH YOU, ZHENA!'_

 _Your husband, the Ghost.'_

Eva tried not to show it, she really did try but if Josef was watching her, then he knew her routine like in the letter and he knew she was dating Bucky.

"Eva it's going to be alright, we won't let him hurt you." Natasha said comfortingly and Eva said nothing in reply, she couldn't as tears began swimming down her face silently. She had been scared that Josef would find her, and he had. Josef had found her and was now stalking her in New York.

"You go back to bed, I'll stay with Eva." Bucky said quietly to Natasha and she nodded before hugging Eva and Eva hugged her back as Bucky sat down next to her silently, although he didn't touch her at all.

"None of us are going to let him hurt you, Eva." Bucky said finally and Eva said nothing for a while and she swallowed.

"You sure about that? Once Josef wants something, he gets it no matter how many people he hurts in the process." Eva said grimly and she wiped her eyes before turning to face him. "I know you hate me."

"Oh my love... I could never hate you." Bucky whispered as he wiped the tears from her face. "Never." He repeated.

"But you barely talk to me, and you never touch me anymore." Eva sobbed.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart. I've been pushing you away, because the guilt was just too much to bear. It burned me up inside every time I would look at you and touch you. But I know now that I should never have put that distance between us. It only made things worse." Bucky told her. "Look at you, I can see in your eyes that you are terrified. I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you my love. I was so wrapped up in my guilt and anger that I didn't stop to think about how all of this was affecting you."

"Guilt?" Eva questioned, looking confused. "What could you possibly have to feel guilty about? I'm the one that kept things from you, I'm the one who didn't tell you about what happened with Josef."

"I have something I need to tell you." Bucky sighed. "It's the reason why I have been avoiding you. I'm not mad at you for not telling me about Josef anymore, I understand now why you kept it to yourself. You needed time to process it before you could share it with me, but know that when you are ready to talk about it, I am here for you my love." He said with pain and guilt written on his face.

"What is it James?" She asked, taking in his expression.

"I know Josef..." Bucky admitted.

"You know him?"

"Yes. And please darling, believe me when I say that I had no idea what he did to you. No idea at all. Had I have known... Well let's say he would not be around anymore." Bucky told her.

"How do you know him? Is it because he was HYDRA? Why has it got you feeling this way James?"

"I trained him Eva... I trained Josef, for HYDRA." he sighed deeply as tears began to slip from his eyes. "I am so sorry. If it wasn't for me, none of this would have ever happened to you." He cried. "Please forgive me."

"Oh James... it's not your fault. Not at all. Josef is a monster. And I know that everything you did for HYDRA, you did under their control. You were not yourself." Eva tried to reassure him.

"I took that monster and I trained him to be an elite killing machine. I will never forgive myself for that. Not for what he did to you."

"You never forced him to do it. He did it of his own free will, because that is the kind of bastard he is. You are a good man James. I know that you have done things that you are not proud of. We all have. But that wasn't you... not really. I know that the man I love would never let anyone hurt me." Eva whispered.

"I promise you baby, no one will hurt you again. Especially Josef. I will kill that son of a bitch before he gets anywhere near you. I promise you that." Bucky cried as he pulled Eva into a tight hug, the both of them crying silently into one another.

After a few minutes when they had both calmed down again Bucky pulled back to look at her. "My love you look exhausted." He said as he brushed a piece of hair from her face.

"I can't sleep. These nightmares... they are haunting me." She cried.

"I'm sorry darling. Come to bed with me. I will hold you tight and keep you safe. I promise you everything will be ok." Bucky said as he led her back to their bedroom. They had not shared their bed since this whole mess began. They lay down together and got comfortable, Bucky wrapped his strong arms around her so that she would feel safe. "I missed you so much." He sighed as the smell of her skin flooded his senses.

"I missed you too James."

"Get some sleep my love. I'll be right here, you're safe with me. I promise... I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

 _AN: Enjoy and review :)_


	26. Family Legacy

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 26

* * *

"I know, it's just...hard going to sleep." Eva admitted and Bucky held her in his arms as she curled up into him, burying her face into his neck and he rubbed her back soothingly. Eva began to drift off as Bucky held her tight, he'd turned the lamp on so it wouldn't be so dark in the bedroom. It took Eva a while to fall into a deep sleep but she felt safe with Bucky's arms wrapped around her protectively. It ended up being the first peaceful sleep she'd had since Katrina had revealed what Josef had done to her in the Red Room. Bucky loved her and she loved him.

* * *

Steve and the others let Bucky and Eva sleep in while they tried to find a location for Josef and Katrina. Since HYDRA had fallen, many loyal S.H.I.E.L.D agents were trying to get the organisation running and defend people again. Natasha had contacted a few old acquaintances and they had sent her a file on Josef, much like Bucky's file, it contained a photo of him and one of him in cryostasis.

The man had been born in 1982 and was a member of HYDRA's most elite death squad with more kills than anyone in HYDRA, including Bucky during his Winter Soldier years, and that was before the HYDRA scientists had injected him with their version of the serum that Howard Stark had created.

"So the Red Room pretty much allowed the male soldiers to rape and beat the women if they acted out of line? Because, Malia Alikaev died when she and Eva were fifteen years old and after this, Eva started rebelling against the Red Room and that's when the whole Josef thing happened. There's a few photos of Eva but not a lot of Josef." Tony said surprised as he searched through the red room files.

"If he's still alive and knows that Eva's with Bucky, he might be pretty pissed off as he sees Eva as his property." Natasha said darkly.

"Here we go, Josef Andropov was placed in the Winter Soldier Program in 1991. There's four others who were put in the program with him, two more men and a woman." Tony said disgusted and Steve looked at Sharon then.

"Would Josef go to prison if the court finds him guilty of assaulting Eva?" Steve asked concerned, he hated seeing one of his friends so depressed.

Sharon shook her head sadly. "It's not that simple, firstly we would need evidence to prove what he did and secondly if we did bring it to court...the jury would think it was a he said, she said case." She explained disgusted.

Steve shook his head in anger.

"What if Eva doesn't want to press charges?" Pepper asked concerned and it was Tony who spoke up.

"We'll support Eva whatever her decision, she's family and so is Bucky." Tony said firmly and they all nodded as they turned on the news and saw Christine Everhart speak.

 _"Breaking news has just reached us, a source has revealed that the notorious Red Room Program that was run by the KGB and also HYDRA, has revealed that the academy sanctioned and condoned rape to its female students. We have also learnt that among the victims were the two female Avengers, Natasha Romanoff and Eva Nikolayev who recently discovered that they were cousins through their fathers, the late scientists Mikhail and Yuri Nikolayev." Christine said gravely._

"How the hell did she find this out?" Natasha asked shocked and worried about how Eva would feel when she heard this.

* * *

Eva woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in days, and saw that Bucky must have already gotten up when she heard him running a shower. He came out, shirtless and his face softened at seeing her as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, she leaned into him and he kissed her softly on the lips. She didn't flinch away, she melted into it and almost cried when he pulled away but that was only to turn off the tap at the sink and he came back quickly.

"I'm going to take you on a holiday through America and we're gonna go to France too." Bucky said seriously and Eva smiled at him, he had missed that smile on her face. He had been so horrible to her and he felt awful about it.

Bucky and Eva made their way out to the living room where the others were already gathered, only to see that the situation had only gotten worse. Katrina and the others had given Red Room information about Natasha and Eva to the press, and now they were broadcasting the women's personal baggage across the country.

Steve was on the phone to Fury straight away to see if there was anything he could do to shut the news down. "Oh my god... soon the whole world is going to know." Sobbed Eva as she buried her face into Bucky's chest.

"It's ok my love, we'll fix this." he reassured her.

Natasha stared at the screen angrily. She was beyond mad, that information was extremely private. Since becoming an Avenger, and releasing all of SHIELDS files on the internet she had become somewhat accustomed to the world knowing all about her dirty laundry but this... this was different.

"You ok babe?" Clint asked as he held onto Natasha's hand. "This is all Lukin." She growled angrily. "Only he would have all this information. We have to take that son of a bitch down!"

"I got your back." Clint told her.

"We're with you too girl." Sam said, and the others all nodded in agreement.

"Gotcha you bastard!" Tony yelled out all of a sudden causing everyone to stare in confusion. He looked up at his teammates, "Oh, as soon as this happened I hacked the news station at tracked the source of their information. Files were sent to them in an email, and I traced the location from where the email was sent... here." He told them all.

"Here... as in America?" Eva asked.

"Here as in New York." Tony replied.

"Oh god... First Katrina, then Josef... and now Lukin. What do we do James?" Eva asked worriedly. She felt like her past was coming back to haunt her.

"What we always do. We fight, and we take down the bad guys."

"Fury is working on shutting down the news channel. He's having Hill go down there right now and seize all their files." Steve said as he put his phone back in his pocket. "Suit up everyone... let's go find these guys and put an end to this."

* * *

They landed the Quinjet outside an abandoned building in lower New York and had alerted the government and police officers of the situation. They all looked at the building and cautiously began to approach as armed men began shooting at them, the team took them out by working together.

Eva wondered if she should use a new trick she had learnt with her powers. She looked towards Bucky for his opinion as she spoke to him with her mind.

 _'Go for it, doll.'_ Bucky said telepathically and she nodded at him before conjuring up a little mini twister from the gas inside the building, allowing the team to take the soldiers. Red mist shimmered in the air before fading away and Eva's blue eyes had turned slightly red as a side effect of using her powers, Bucky smiled at her proudly and held her hand tightly as they ventured inside the building.

Eva couldn't detect anyone's thoughts, and alerted the team that they were alone. Just then a TV that had been in the room turned on and a video began to play they saw the date was 1998. Five years after Yuri and Mikhail had supposedly died in tragic accidents according to the Russian Soviet Government at the time before, the government had been disbanded.

As the video played, Bucky saw himself strapped down onto the table as Mikhail and Yuri worked on his arm, they were surprisingly talking in English to Bucky.

 _"So you don't know where your daughters are?" Bucky asked finally and Mikhail looked up at him quietly from where he had been fixing up Bucky's new cybernetic metal arm._

 _"No, the last I heard was that my Natasha was...being hunted by a SHIELD agent by the name of Hawkeye." Mikhail explained quietly as Lukin and another man that Bucky recognised as Vasily Karpov entered the room.  
_  
 _"I see you have upgraded his arm." Lukin noted while Karpov remained silent but intrigued by what he was seeing._

 _"Where are our daughters, Lukin? You promised that we would be allowed to see our daughters?" Yuri asked quietly as he stood up and cleaned his glasses, Eva remembered that her father wore glasses and how he had explained to her how he was short sighted._

 _"After you wipe the Soldier's memories, I have a new mission for him and it concerns Josef." Lukin explained calmly._

 _"Wipe him? You mean brainwash him, he spent the last twenty years fighting your brainwashing. This won't work on him." Mikhail warned and Lukin smiled as he gestured towards the Memory Suppressant Machine.  
_  
Even from where he stood next to Eva, Bucky flinched slightly at the sight of the machine that had caused him such agony and pain for the last fifty years whenever he tried to fight back or completed a mission. Then it hit him. Mikhail and Yuri had both stated that he had fought against the HYDRA brainwashing for twenty years...so he had tried to fight back against them.  
 _  
"His mind has already showed significant damage due to the electric shock from the memory machine, his mind can't handle it anymore!" Yuri protested heavily._

 _Lukin's face darkened._

 _"Are you two refusing to cooperate?" He asked menacingly and the two brothers exchanged a look and nodded._

 _"We are, you've already taken our wives from us and we know that even if we do what you say our daughters will never be safe from you people...you'll have to kill us!" Mikhail declared defiantly._

 _Lukin looked indifferent._

 _"Very well then, Josef take care of these traitors!" He ordered and Josef mercilessly opened fire on the two men._

Natasha was horrified as she saw her father being brought down in a hail of bullets, blood spraying on the wall behind him as his body was riddled with bullet holes.

 _Mikhail was dead before he even hit the floor. Yuri had been critically wounded but had cried out in Yiddish at the sight of his older brother lying lifelessly on the ground of the lab, blood seeping out of his wounds. Josef stalked towards Yuri and began strangling him, when the man tried to put up a fight by using a scalpel on him, Josef promptly beat him viciously with his fists. Yuri's face was unrecognisable afterwards.  
_  
 _"Oddly enough this reminds me of Howard and Maria Stark." Lukin said casually, causing Josef to smirk as another man entered._

 _"Ah, Dr Vanko I am glad you are here."_

Natasha let out a sob at what she had just witnessed and buried her face into Clint's chest as he held her tightly. Tears streamed down Eva's face as she stared intently at the screen, Bucky's arms wrapped protectively around her. Shock and sadness was written on the face of the rest of the team as they tried to comprehend the fact that they had just seen Natasha and Eva's fathers maliciously murdered.

Tony looked shocked at the mention of his parent's names. Had HYDRA been responsible for their deaths? Of course they had. HYDRA were responsible for almost everything bad in this world he thought to himself. He was determined to find out who killed them, and get payback. Too many good people had died at the hands of HYDRA, what did seem a little ironic was that the descendants of those very people HYDRA had killed were now part of The Avengers, and would ultimately be responsible for putting an end to HYDRA once and for all.

The team continued to watch the footage as Dr Vanko began to do for HYDRA what the Nikolayev brothers had refused to do. Bucky felt a chill down his spine as he watched himself be electrocuted, his mind wiped of all memory. Everyone felt sick watching it. Thankfully it ended there and they were met with static.

"Are you ok my love?" Bucky asked as he held Eva tight.

"I'm... shocked. And I feel sick, but I will be ok. Are you?" she questioned.

"I'll be ok when we put an end to these bastards." Bucky growled angrily.

Just then the screen came back on and Josef appeared. "Hello Avengers... Hello Evangeline my darling." He said with a smirk, which made her blood run cold. "Of course I am not stupid enough to meet you all in person" he continued. "I hope you liked my little gift. It's time you knew that your fathers were nothing but filthy Jewish traitors!" he spat.

Everyone stared angrily back at the screen, wanting nothing but to smash it. "Oh... nothing to say?" Josef laughed.

"Our fathers were not traitors!" Natasha yelled angrily. "They were good men! Trying to do the right thing and protect their families... and you murdered them you son of a bitch!"

"Now, now Miss Romanoff... temper, temper." he laughed.

"I'll show you a temper when I rip your god damned head off!" she shouted.

"Had your fathers done what they were told, we would not be in this mess." Josef stated.

"They would never bow down to scum like you!" Eva growled.

"Ouch my darling." he smiled. "Scum? That hurts... I thought we had something special." He sneered.

"You are nothing but a coward and a murderer." Eva told him. I will kill you for what you did to our fathers... for what you did to me. You will burn in hell!"

"I'm already there zhena, too bad you can't divorce me otherwise you'd of married this, Romanian and Irish filth." Josef said sarcastically and Bucky glared at him as Josef turned to face Tony who was glaring at him with hatred on his face.

"And to answer your unspoken question, Mr Stark, Bucky Barnes was sent to kill your parents although I do admit that he did try to put up a fight." Josef said sadistically and showed another video of Bucky coming off a black motorcycle after crashing into a car that hit a tree. He calmly got off and stepped over to the car as Howard Stark staggered out, he looked startled at seeing Bucky.

 _"Sergeant Barnes?" Howards asked shocked, and Bucky waivered slightly.  
_  
Someone was mind controlling Bucky.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Josef had arrived at the scene on another motorcycle and glared at Bucky as if he was stupid and turned to face Howard.

 _"You're such a fucking weakling! I'll do it if you don't have the balls...or better yet, I'll make you do it without any control over yourself." Josef said smugly._

 _"No." Bucky growled defiantly and pushed a bleeding Howard Stark behind him trying to shield the man from Josef, the older man staring at what was happening in disbelief and fear. A blonde haired woman appeared and said something in Russian from a red book, causing Bucky to howl in agony as he clutched his head in severe agony._

Everyone looked horrified at what they witnessing, Eva wrapped her arms around Bucky who had turned a sickly shade of white while Tony glared at Josef. He had used Bucky as a weapon to kill his parents.

The woman laughed and Eva froze, she knew who that was as she stared up at the screen in shock.

Yelena.

 _"Kill him and the woman, show no mercy." Josef ordered and Bucky showed no emotion as he beat Howard to death and then strangled a terrified and crying Maria Stark, her cries turning into choking, gurgling sounds as the screen went blank._

Tears of regret and disgust poured down Bucky's face as he buried his face in Eva's embrace.

"If you think any of you will ever have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." Josef declared smugly as Eva glared at him and snapped.

She shot at the TV screen, causing it to break as Josef's face appeared on another screen in front of them.

"Now, now Eva. Don't get angry, keep your emotions in check, although you hardly did anything when I fucked you." Josef chided.

Bucky saw red. The Winter Soldier in him wanted to break free. He knew that Josef was watching them, there was a camera somewhere because he was asking questions and responding to what they were saying. Feeding off of their anger and grief. He was one sick bastard. Bucky lost it. He charged at the TV screen, effortlessly lifting it into the air before slamming it into the concrete floor.

"I don't want to hear another word from your god damn filthy HYDRA mouth, you son of a bitch!" Bucky yelled at the camera.

"Oh don't worry... I'm leaving you all to digest what I have showed you... but I will see you all again soon." Josef laughed, his voice echoing from speakers around the room.

Tony and Bucky were still both deeply in shock, and the rest of the team were feeling their pain and grief.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Steve told everyone, and they all made their way to the Quinjet.

Tony sat quietly next to Pepper in the back. Bucky eyed him wearily. He knew how the man must be feeling. He couldn't remember doing it, but he had killed Tony's parents. He couldn't help but think he must hate him for what he had done.

"Tony I..." he began, only to be cut off.

"Save it Barnes." Tony said, and Bucky flinched, waiting for Tony to get angry and yell at him, but he didn't. "I know that the man in that video... he wasn't you. You weren't in control, whatever HYDRA did to you, you were their slave. You had no choice. I want you to know... I don't blame you. Not one bit. You were only a pawn in their sick little game, you have been for a very long time. You're different now. You are the man you were always meant to be. And I know that if you had the choice, you never would have done that. Deep down, behind that Winter Soldier façade HYDRA created, you are and always have been a good man." Tony told him with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you Tony." Bucky replied as he held Eva's hand tightly. "That means a lot. I know that I have done some horrible... unforgivable things. And I am trying every day to make up for that."

"Since joining the Avengers, you have saved countless lives." Steve told his friend. "Tony's right, you're a good man Buck."

"Thank you, all of you." Bucky said quietly but there was gratitude in his voice as he looked at Eva who smiled and held his hand tightly, he held it back and felt her wrap her arms around him, holding him close.

* * *

When they got back to the tower, Rhodey, Fury and Maria Hill knew that immediately something was wrong, Tony looked like he had been crying, Pepper looked distraught. Natasha and Eva's faces were both stained with tears. Bucky's face was painted with a mixture of emotions and the whole team seemed defeated.

"Report, agents." Fury said calmly but his tone was surprisingly gentle and Steve began explaining what they had discovered, and his voice got quieter as he explained the harrowing video they had watched on the TV that Josef had played.

Fury looked grim and Maria looked concerned, Fury sighed and nodded at the Avengers.

"Have time off, you've all just gotten a shock about what actually happened to your parents." Fury instructed and Steve along with the rest of the team nodded.

* * *

Eva stood in the gym as she looked at the gymnastic equipment, ever since she had been two years old, she had loved performing gymnastics. Her mother had taken her to the local gymnastics club in Moscow, Russia and she had loved every second of it and her eyes glanced towards the uneven bars, the balancing beam and the vault, along with the floor.

"Screw it, if I fall over then at least no one is watching." Eva decided and put on some classical ballet music as she began a few simple handstands and cartwheels on the floor.

She then started running towards the vault and did a cartwheel, before landing on the mat, feeling something inside her that she thought she had lost the day her parents had died, when she had been eleven years old.

Eva jumped and gripped onto the uneven bars, she lifted her legs up in the air and managed to do a backflip handstand and a wolf turn, and got prepared to dismount.

She lept off, only to land slightly unsteady and cursed.

Damnit.

* * *

Natasha stood out on the balcony watching the busy and somewhat chaotic city beneath her. She had stolen Clint's thinking space, and decided that it was rather relaxing. Seeing her Father and her Uncle brutally murdered had really taken its toll on her. She spent her whole life thinking that both of her parents were dead, and that she was completely alone in this world. Then she found out that her and Eva were cousins, and that her Father wasn't killed but actually captured by HYDRA, along with her Uncle.

It was all so much to take in, and she found herself secretly hoping that by some miracle her father was still out there somewhere. She hoped that he had escaped, or even that he was still being held prisoner, that way she could at least rescue him. She couldn't believe how foolish that was. Actually believing for a moment that he might still be alive. And then Josef, that bastard had to go and show them that video, and all hope was lost in an instant. That feeling was instead replaced by pain, anger and disgust.

As upset as she was about the whole thing, she was also proud. Proud that her Father and Uncle stood up to HYDRA. When they realized that nothing they were doing was going to keep their daughters safe, and that The Red Room and HYDRA already had their hooks into them, they refused to help them anymore. And for that they paid with their lives.

Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked out into the distance, the lights of the city bright beneath the night sky. She heard footsteps approaching and she knew straight away, just by the sound that it was Clint.

"You stole my spot." He stated.

"More like borrowing." She replied.

"It's ok Babe... I'll share it with you." he said as he sat behind her, his legs either side of her body and wrapped his arms protectively around her. "You ok?" he asked.

"Not really, but I will be eventually."

"Shit of a day huh?" he said.

"Sure was. But whenever I'm in your arms, I know that everything is going to be ok." she smiled.

"So when are we gonna start planning our wedding?" Clint asked.

"The girls and I have already started looking through magazines and I have a few ideas in mind" Natasha told him with a smile.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I think you'll like them."

"Oh, I know I will. You know me well enough to know what I do and don't like. I trust your judgement. But just so you know, I'm totally gonna be one of those hands on husbands to be. I'll come with you to check out venues, to pick out invitations and I will definitely come along to cake tastings!" Clint chuckled.

"Perfect. We can start organizing things, and once we get rid of HYDRA for good, we can finally set a date".

"I love the sound of that." Clint smiled. "Hey ummm, will you, I mean do you wanna..." Clint fumbled around trying to find the right words.

"Yeah?" Natasha asked a little confused.

"Would you take my name? When we get married?"

"Do you want me to?" she asked.

"Only if it's what you want too, babe."

"Hmmm... Natasha Barton... I think I like the sound of that." she giggled.

"Me too." Clint replied as he kissed her on the cheek.

* * *

Eva was curious when Natasha had wanted to speak to her alone and they sat down in the kitchen as Eva was cooking dinner for everyone tonight, Natasha looked nervous.

"Eva I was wondering if...if you would like to be my maid of honour for the wedding?" Natasha asked shyly and Eva stared at her in surprise before smiling and hugging her.

"I'd be honoured, Natasha." Eva said touched and Natasha hugged her tightly, the two cousins hugged for a while, they were more like sisters than cousins in some ways.

"Thank you, Eva." Natasha whispered emotionally and the two women went to meet up with the other girls to go dress shopping as they said goodbye to the men.

* * *

After getting her wedding dress fitted and made, Natasha and the girls all had a glass of wine as Eva revealed she and Bucky were going to visit an OB/GYN to see if she could have children. Natasha knew she could as she had visited the SHIELD medical doctor but she knew how nervous Eva was about any lasting damage the experiments with Loki's sceptre had done to her.

"Are you and Tony thinking of having children?" Natasha asked softly as she looked at Pepper who blushed and looked thoughtful, before nodding.

"When the fight with HYDRA's over, we're going to try. I had my eggs frozen when I found out there was a high risk of me getting breast cancer as my mother died of it." Pepper said quietly.

"Pepper, I'm sorry." Natasha said upset and Pepper shook her head reassuringly, she and Tony were happy and they were looking forward to having children after the battle with HYDRA.

Natasha looked at Sharon then.

"What about you and Steve?" She asked. Sharon smiled at the thought of having a baby with Steve.

* * *

Bucky knew he and Eva hadn't spent a lot of time together, so he was arranging a date again for them at the Italian restaurant that they had gone to before. He hoped she liked it as he looked at himself in the mirror, he was wearing black jeans and a black shirt along with black shoes, he saw Eva come over then and his breath caught.

Wearing a dark red dress that just fell below the knee, Eva looked beautiful and her hair was pulled up half down and up as she smiled at him shyly.

Bucky didn't stop himself, he kissed her and rested his forehead against hers tenderly.

"I love you." He said quietly.

* * *

 _Enjoy and review :)_


	27. Everything Will Be Alright

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by HYDRA where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

 ** _Special Thanks to arienna89, and abstract0118 for reviewing this story, and thank you to everyone who has favorited and following this story. :)_**

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 27

* * *

"I love you too James." She smiled.

"Ready to go?" He asked, and she nodded in reply. They took the elevator down to the garage where they borrowed one of Tony's many cars. They usually liked to ride Bucky's motorcycle, but heading to a fancy restaurant it was easier to take a car.

When they arrived at the restaurant the waitress showed them to their table and once they were seated she handed them some menus and left them to decide on what they wanted while she got their drinks. Eva was studying the menu intently when she looked up to find Bucky staring at her with a small smile on his face.

"What?" she asked a little puzzled.

"Nothing... you're just beautiful is all." he said with a charming smile. "I could look at you all day long and never get tired of it."

"You're so sweet James."

The waitress came back to take their order and serve them their drinks. As they waited for their food Eva chewed on her straw somewhat nervously.

"Everything ok my love?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, everything is fine." She replied unconvincingly.

"You're nervous about tomorrow aren't you?" He said.

"That obvious huh?"

"I know you Eva. I know when something is bothering you. And you know that you can talk to me about it right?"

"Of course James... I know. It's just... I'm scared. What if I can't get pregnant? What if we can't have a family?"

"Don't be scared Eva. I'm sure that everything will be fine. And if by some chance we can't have children of our own... it's ok. I love you no matter what. We are in this together ok. I don't care if we can't have kids. As long as I have you, I will be happy. And there is always adoption, if it comes down to it, we can explore that. But I feel in my heart that everything will work out just fine." He told her optimistically.

"Thank you James. I love you."

"I love you too Eva."

Eva smiled and held his hand tightly before kissing him across the table. The waitress arrived with their food, interrupting the moment. She placed their bowls of pasta on the table and left them to it. After they had finished their dinner, they ordered tiramisu and waited patiently as they spoke over the softly played music.

"So the wedding will be held at the farm and we're going wedding dress shopping tomorrow, Natasha's found a beautiful dress and just has to try on." Eva told him softly, smiling to herself, she was happy for her cousin who was more like a big sister to her.

"Clint and the rest of us are going to a shop that does tuxedos for the wedding, plus we need to figure out the catering and everything else, apparently Natasha has given him the run down on the do's and don'ts." Bucky said amused.

They ate their dessert and saw people dancing on the dance floor to 1940s music, he smiled and offered her his metal hand, and she smiled back happily at him. "Dance, with me doll?" He asked softly and she smiled at him before joining him on the dance floor as Bucky twirled her around. Both of them felt happy.

They danced to the song, Let's Twist Again by Chubby Checkers, laughing as the song ended. They paid the bill, leaving a large tip for their waiter and waitress, before heading out to the car. As they neared the vehicle, they were called out to by a female voice and when they turned to see who was calling them, they saw it was none other than Christine Everhart the news reporter of WHIH News.

"Mr Barnes and Miss Nikolayev, I have a few questions for you if you wouldn't mind answering about the time you both spent under HYDRA?" The young woman inquired.

"We haven't got anything to say to you, Miss." Bucky said calmly and they both started walking past her, when she spoke up again.

"Is it true that Mikhail and Yuri Nikolayev were the ones responsible for creating your metal bionic left arm, after you lost it after falling off a train?" Christine challenged.

Bucky tensed.

"That's not their fault, they were forced to work for HYDRA as was I, and we were all victims of HYDRA." Bucky said calmly.

"Miss Nikolayev are the rumours true, that you were raped at the tender age of fifteen years old by Josef who is another Winter Soldier like Mr Barnes?" Christine asked calmly.

Eva tried to keep calm.

"That's none of your business. Now please get out of our way." Eva said as she pushed her way past and climbed into the car, slamming the door in a hurry, wanting nothing more than to be rid of that annoying, prying reporter.

* * *

The team were hanging out in the living room when Bucky and Eva disembarked the elevator both looking rather angry.

"Everything ok guys?" Natasha asked as she watched Bucky pour a strong drink of whiskey in the kitchen.

"That ignorant little bitch Christine Everhart." Eva sighed heavily. "Someone is feeding her intel on us. She had the nerve to bail us up in the car park, bombarding us with questions".

"Yeah... I'll give you one guess on who's feeding her that intel." Bucky added.

"Let me see... Josef and his merry band of misfits Lukin and Miss Vanko?" Tony replied.

"Without a doubt." Bucky told him.

"We have to put a stop to this. These news reporters have no respect for our privacy. Confronting us while we are out on a date. Next thing you know they are going to be plastering it all over the news." Bucky growled angrily.

"Don't worry Buck. We'll sort it." Steve said as he gave Sharon a nod and she began to phone Fury to update him on the situation.

"You sure you're ok?" Natasha asked Eva as she put a comforting arm around her cousin.

"Yeah, I'll be alright. I'm just tired of the past coming back to haunt me. I want to be done with it. All of it. I want to move on. I want to have a normal life, live in a house with a white picket fence, marry the man I love and have children" Eva sighed.

"Don't worry Eva. It will all be over soon enough." Natasha assured her.

"I hope it will Nat, I don't want that happening to you and Clint on your wedding day. I just want this thing with Josef to be over, it's like a dark cloud looming over us all, and soon enough it's going to unleash a shit storm upon us." Eva said quietly and Natasha saw the look of sadness in her eyes.

Natasha hated seeing her friend and cousin so down.

* * *

After speaking with Fury, the team retired for bed. Bucky found Eva sitting on the bed looking down. She looked up at him, with a somewhat hesitant look on her face before getting the courage to do something. She walked over to him and bit her lip for a second, before kissing him. He was startled for a moment before quickly responding as he held her tightly in his arms. He loved this woman so much.

 _'My partner, my best friend and my lover. My future wife and the mother of our children.'_ Bucky thought to himself and rested his forehead against hers for a moment. Eva held onto him tightly and he kissed her again, his arms placing her on the bed gently as he leaned over her, reminding Eva of a fallen dark angel.

"I love you, James." Eva whispered softly and kissed him again, Bucky nuzzled her neck and kissed her back before leaving a trail of kisses over her neck, her throat and collarbone. She then felt his lips on her chest, his stubble tickling her chest as she ran her hands through his dark brown locks, her body burning in pleasure, love and passion.

"I love you too, Eva." Bucky whispered hoarsely. He let out a feral sounding growl when Eva's hands trailed over his toned, muscled chest and felt his hard, muscled abs.

Bucky relished in the feel of her fingers dancing along his muscular body. He had missed her so much, with everything going on lately, the both of them pulling and pushing away from one another they hadn't been intimate in some time. He had felt so empty during that time, like a part of him was missing. Being with Eva again, he felt complete. There was no doubt in his mind that they were meant to be together forever.

As Eva's hands travelled lower Bucky's heart began to race even faster than before. It was almost like it was their first time all over again. For some strange reason he felt nervous. But his lust, love and desire far outweighed that feeling. When she slid her hand into his pants he gasped as he took in a sharp breath. "Oh shit." He whispered in pleasure.

"I've missed you." Eva whispered with a smile.

"I've missed you too my love, so, so much."

Bucky slid down the bed and removed Eva's jeans, tossing them aside as he admired her gorgeous body. Running his hands up her thighs he felt her quiver beneath his touch.

He checked to see if she was alright and she nodded at him softly as he slid his flesh hand over her warm centre while cupping and kneading her breast with his metal hand. Eva arched into his chest, her breathing light as she tangled her hands into his long dark brown hair, his eyes meeting hers and he pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

"So damn beautiful, and all mine." Bucky said hoarsely and wrapped his arms around her as they were both now naked, Eva smiled shyly and wrapped her arms around him as he laid her back down on the bed. They stared at each other for a moment, and Bucky crushed his lips to hers into a passionate kiss full of passion and love as she wrapped her arms around him.

He gently slipped one of his fingers into her and almost growled at feeling how wet and warn she was.

"You're so beautiful."

"Oh god James." She panted breathlessly as he began to set a slow rhythmic pace with his fingers.

"Does that feel good baby?" he asked as he kissed her neck softly.

"Sooo good." She replied. "But I want you inside of me."

"Someone's not fucking around." Bucky chuckled.

"I've missed you... and I need you." Eva panted.

"Your wish is my command princess." Bucky told her as he withdrew his fingers and began to position himself between her legs. Slowly he slid himself inside of her, relishing in how tight and warm she felt around him. "Oh shit..." He sighed in pleasure. "Can't promise I'm going to last too long sweetheart." He smiled shyly.

"It's ok, I don't think I'm going to need long." Eva blushed. He had made her feel so good with his hands that she already felt close to orgasm.

Bucky waited a moment for Eva to adjust to him before he began to set their pace. Their bodies moved together in unison like they were made for one another. With each thrust Eva was nearing closer and closer to orgasm, and Bucky was doing his best to keep a steady rhythm and not let out his primal side that just wanted to devour his woman.

Eva seemed to sense what he was thinking; she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly on the mouth to reassure him that she wasn't frightened of him or the Winter Soldier.

Realising this, Bucky let out his darker side and crushed his lips to Eva's as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her hips tightly, and began thrusting deep and hard inside of her, she moaned into his mouth, gripping his dark brown hair with her hands tightly, whispering his name.

"James… oh James." Eva whispered breathlessly, she laced her fingers with his metal ones, and he nuzzled her neck lovingly.

"Come for me, doll. Come on, I want to see you fall apart around me and fill your womb with my child." Bucky said roughly, Eva moaned at the thought and rocked against him heavily.

Right then, she shattered around him with a soft cry of his name and kissed him lovingly on the mouth.

Bucky kept going as hard as he could, prolonging her orgasm as she came, until he felt himself let go, and spilling himself inside her. He twitched and growled into her neck, before feeling himself relax. He nuzzles her cheek, feeling her smile breathlessly, and then kisses her softly on the lips.

When he pulls back, she strokes his cheek, sighing softly. "I really hope this appointment goes well, I want to have your children, James."

Bucky smiles softly at her before rubbing her sides. "I will...it's gonna work out, baby. It will. I swear to you." She laid down next to him, as he pulled the sheets over her as she snuggled into his side.

 _'Please god, please don't take this away from us. Please, let me make her happy, let us get married, have children, nieces and nephews along with grandchildren.'_ Bucky prayed.

* * *

The following day Bucky and Eva waited not so patiently in the reception of the fertility specialist. The seconds seemed to tick by really slowly, as they anxiously waited to see the doctor. Finally a short brunette lady wandered into the room and called out. "Miss Nikolayev and Mr Barnes?" Immediately the paired jumped up and followed the doctor to the room, they each took a seat as the doctor bought up Eva's blood test results on the computer.

"Now, Eva... your tests show that your body isn't working quite the way it should." The doctor began, and both Bucky and Eva had a sinking feeling in their stomachs. Like all their hopes and dreams had just been ripped away from them. What was wrong with her? What it because of Josef? Had that monster ruined their chances at having a family together?

Thoughts were spinning round and round in Eva's mind. She swallowed bravely and nodded at the doctor in understanding as she gripped Bucky's hand tighter, feeling like she had failed him, she wasn't able to look him in the eye.

"Your blood results show that you are not ovulating regularly. Your cycle is not on a normal schedule. Now, this could be due to the trauma you suffered when you were younger." The doctor told her, well aware of Eva's medical history after their first conversation. "But this sort of thing can also happen for no apparent reason, and can even affect young and otherwise healthy women like yourself." she continued.

"So... it's not impossible to get pregnant?" Bucky asked hopefully.

"Impossible... no. Difficult... yes... But, that is without medication." The doctor told them, and there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

"What kind of medication?" Eva asked, a little concerned.

"Well to begin with we would put you on a three month trial of Clomiphene. It assists with ovulation and will help your body to ovulate on a more regular schedule." the doctor told her. "There are some side effects such a blurred vision, headaches and hot flashes, but these are nothing to be worried about and I will give you a pamphlet on all of this. The other thing is that this drug can increase your chance of having twins by ten percent, due to multiple ovulation." The doctor warned.

"Nothing we can't handle." Bucky smiled happily.

"And if this doesn't work?" Eva asked.

"I think the chances of this working for you are very high, but if the three month trial doesn't result in pregnancy, then we would look at possible doing another three months, or exploring the possibility of IVF, but don't worry about that for the time being." She said as she wrote Eva a prescription for Clomiphene and set another appointment for four months' time. "Now if you become pregnant just cancel the appointment, and I will know why." She smiled at the two of them as she shook their hands. "Good luck, to the both of you."

As Eva and Bucky left the clinic they both had huge smiles on their faces. They finally had some answers and they felt like their dreams had a real chance of coming true. It was a massive weight lifted from their shoulders.

Bucky pulled Eva into his side and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, almost crying with tears of relief and joy at the thought of having a baby with Bucky.

"We're gonna be alright, we're gonna be alright doll. We're gonna have a big family, I can just tell we are." Bucky told her, and Eva smiled at him and took his hand tightly.

"I can too, I have a feeling everything will work out." She whispered softly and Bucky held her tightly.

* * *

Clint had always known that the media would follow them and reveal their private lives, but there were limits and Christine Everhart seemed to be breaking every one of those lines.

Bucky had phoned them and told them that he and Eva had news from the fertility clinic, and judging from the tone of his voice, it sounded like good news.

"I hope everything went well for them, they deserve a happy ending after everything that's happened." Natasha said quietly and Clint wrapped his arm around her tightly, they saw Bucky and Eva enter the tower and they both smiled.

"What's the news, is everything ok?" Steve asked worriedly, he really hoped that Bucky and Eva were able to start a family.

"The fertility doctor said I have to take medication called Clomiphene to help my fertility, my blood work came back and it seems my cycle was damaged in some way. But...we can start trying as soon as I begin the medication. Bucky and I think that we should just hold off until all this HYDRA business is behind us. Then its baby time! But there is a chance we might end up having twins." Eva said pleased and Bucky held up two black t - shirts.

 _'Daddy and Mommy Avengers.'  
_  
Everyone cheered then and Natasha didn't care if anyone saw her softer side, she ran towards Eva and hugged her tightly.

"So four assassins as parents… cause let's face it, it's only a matter of time before Romanoff has a bun in the oven." Tony laughed. "And these kids are going to have a genius/ Iron man, and a badass CEO for an Uncle and Aunt. As well as Uncle Steve and Aunty Sharon not to mention the rest of the team. This family is about to get bigger!" He smiled.

"Wait…Twins?!" Rhodey asked startled.

"Twins run in both of our families, my old man's side of the family had twins and so do Eva's." Bucky explained amused. "So the chances are high, especially with the drugs."

Clint groaned at his sudden thought and turned to Natasha.

"If we have any daughters, I am not letting them date until at least they've learned every form of martial arts. Hell, Uncle Bucky will even teach them some moves." Clint said firmly.

"They'll all have bodyguards and major trust funds." Tony said bluntly, causing everyone to stare.

"Tony, you don't have to do that." Bucky said shocked and Tony waved a hand at him, dismissively.

"They're my future nephews and nieces, and I would die before I let anything happen to them. There is already enough bad shit in this world, and I will make sure they are protected from it, as I'm sure anyone else on this team would too." Tony said seriously. "God soon enough this whole place is gonna be swarming with rugrats. Next thing you know Steve will be knocking Sharon up." Tony laughed.

Sharon laughed and Steve looked alarmed and slightly angry. "Do we have to call it 'knocking up'?" Steve scolded.

"Oh I'm sorry…I forget you're practically 90! 'Soon enough Sharon will be _with child.'_ " Tony laughed. "That better?"

Steve's face turned a light shade of pink.

"Steve won't let our child out of his sight, he'll be overprotective daddy." Sharon said amused, she and Steve exchanged soft smiles.

"What about you two?" Rhodes inquired as he nodded at Sam, Tessa, Tony and Pepper.

"I'd like having mini falcons with Sam." Tessa said easily and bit into some southern fried chicken.

"Someday right Pep." Tony smiled at his girlfriend. Finally coming around to the idea of having a family of his own.

* * *

 _Enjoy and review :)_


	28. Let's Finish This

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by HYDRA where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 28

* * *

Bucky had planned to propose to Eva at the Bethesda terrace and Fountain after they had gone out for dinner, Natasha and the girls had told her to dress up as Bucky was going to take her to a fancy restaurant for dinner tonight.

He smiled at her and his breath caught at the beautiful dark purple silk dress she wore, it was a vintage style and was made by the vintage designer Ghost. Eva's long blonde wavy hair, was curled gently and she smiled at him softly as they finished eating their dinner on the warm August evening.

After they finished their meal, they walked hand in hand towards the fountain when Bucky got on one knee and Eva felt her eyes burn with unshed tears.

"Eva Marina Nikolayev, we've been through so much together ever since that day we met at the HYDRA base in Germany. I've loved you ever since then, and somehow you're still by my side, will you marry me, vozlyublennaya?" Bucky asked quietly as the crowd around them took photos and videoed the moment.

"Yes James, a thousand yesses!" Eva cried overjoyed and kissed him as he slipped on his mother's wedding ring on the ring finger of her left hand, the sapphire stone shining in the evening sunlight. It looked like it belonged there and he was so glad that he had a piece of his family history to give to her.

"I love you." Bucky whispered roughly.

The happy couple rushed back to the tower at Eva's request, she couldn't wait to tell everyone the great news. As they made their way into the living room they saw the team crowded around the TV. Natasha turned to see them walk in and leapt up from her spot next to Clint, embracing her cousin in a tight hug and shouting congratulations. Eva was stunned, but when she looked over at the TV she could see how they all knew. On lookers must have sold their video footage to all the news stations because it was being broadcast on multiple channels as breaking news.

The rest of the team joined in congratulating the pair and Tony proceeded to crack open some champagne. "This calls for a celebration!" He exclaimed as the bottle cork shot across the room and everyone cheered. As Eva looked around at the smiling faces of her friends and family she couldn't help but feel this was the happiest day of her life so far.

* * *

Later that night as the team had just finished up their dinner and were sitting down watching a movie together, Jarvis alerted them of a security breach on the ground floor.

"Jarvis, security footage." Tony instructed, and the live feed from the surveillance popped up on the screen, the team were shocked to see Josef, Lukin and Katrina along with what looked like the remainder of HYDRA's forces storming the building. Even with all the security measures in place there's no way it would keep them out. They had enough fire power to blow through any door in their way. But at least they could slow them down.

Tony grabbed his IPad and sent the building into emergency lock down, sealing all the lower floors off with heavy doors at each floor, buying them enough time to get their gear and prepare to defend their home and each other.

"Everybody suit up!" Steve instructed. "Looks like HYDRA are bringing the fight right to our door. Let's take them down, for good."

"With pleasure, Steve." Bucky growled, as he made his way to the room where they kept all their uniforms and weapons.

The security doors bought them just enough time holding off the HYDRA soldiers for them to get ready and go over a plan of defense. As HYDRA breached the last door the team began taking them out quickly and effectively, Eva used her powers carefully so no one on their side would get hurt. It was a long, brutal and vicious fight.

Clint slammed his bow into a Red Room agent who was barely an adult as she tried to stab him with a Gerber hunting knife. Natasha took down anyone who posed a threat to her family, until most of the HYDRA fighters had been put down and now they saw only Katrina, Lukin and Josef were left along with only a handful of others.

"Who takes who?" Tony asked darkly as he glared at Lukin and Vasily Karpov, two men who had been responsible for killing his parents, along with Natasha, and Eva's parents and turning Bucky into the Winter Soldier.

"Katrina's mine and Nat's, Tony you take Lukin. Karpov is fair game for all of us." Eva said menacingly, her eyes turning a vivid shade of dark purple.

"Josef's mine." Bucky growled low and coldly, the Winter Soldier showing in his eyes.

There would be no mercy.

* * *

Although Josef had the super soldier serum in him, his one was stronger than Bucky's which put Bucky at a slight disadvantage.

Bucky punched him harshly across the face, causing Josef's lip to bleed before the man became enraged.

"I will take everything from you!" Josef shouted enraged.

"The only thing you will get from me is a slow and painful death you psychotic bastard!" Bucky spat, as he blocked Josef's counter attack with his metal arm. His cybernetic enhancement was strong, giving him an advantage over Josef. Grabbing Josef around the throat he lifted the man into the air, tossing him into the wall with a thud, but the man quickly rose to his feet again and charged at Bucky, tackling him to the ground.

Eva stood by, ready to have Bucky's back at any moment if he needed, while she keeping an eye on the situation around them, taking out any stray HYDRA soldiers that managed to get past the others. She left Katrina to Nat and Clint, they seemed to have it handled. She would rather focus her energies on Josef after all he did to her, but she knew that Bucky needed to be the one to end him.

* * *

Rhodey, Sharon and Sam held off the rest of the HYDRA forces pushing their way through the entrance to their level as best they could, allowing the others to fight the last remaining leaders of the organization.

Clint and Natasha tag teamed Katrina, working together like parts of a well-oiled machine. Their attacks were relentless and the woman barely had a chance to get in a counter attack before they hit her with another attack. She was tough and was taking one hell of a beating, but they did not let up.

Tony fought with Lukin, using all the tech he had in his suit, wanting to make the bastard pay for all he had done to his family, not to mention the rest of the team. The monster had a lot to answer for and he was going to make sure he suffered. With the suit, it wasn't a very fair fight and Tony definitely had the upper hand. It didn't take him long to beat the man into submission. And just as he thought Lukin was about to give up, he pulled out some sort of high tech explosive device and screamed. "Hail HYDRA!" Before he attempted to set it off, and Tony knew what he had to do. Without hesitation he snapped the man's neck, killing him immediately. He quickly assessed the device and made sure it was safe before he turned his attention to Karpov who was currently fighting with Pepper and she looked like she needed some help.

Josef pinned Bucky to the floor and began mercilessly pummelling his face with his fists, Bucky grabbed one of his arms with his metal arm twisting his wrist until he heard a loud snap, rendering the man's arm useless. His opponent's rage only grew as Bucky threw his off onto the floor.

"I will kill you and everyone you love... except Eva, she will be mine!" Josef screamed as he attacked Bucky with fury beating on him relentlessly until Eva used her powers and blasted him off her fiancé.

"Like hell she will!" Bucky growled, swiftly punching him in the face.

Josef stumbled back, regaining his footing he charged at Bucky. Bucky took the opportunity before him and grabbed Josef by the neck with his bionic arm, lifting him up in the air relishing in the fact that he was gasping for breath and writhing beneath his vice like grip. With one last look into his eyes, conveying all the hatred he had for the man he broke his neck, a snap echoing around the room and the man fell to the floor dead.

He wouldn't be hurting Eva anymore.

Bucky spat at his corpse as he looked over and saw Eva and Natasha tag team Katrina. The woman was all but defeated but refused to give up, she continued to try and fight so Natasha tackled the woman to the ground pinning her while Eva gave her one swift kick to the face snapping her neck with force.

It was over.

HYDRA was finished for good, they wouldn't be spreading their poison around anymore.

Mikhail, Yuri, Anastasia, Marina, Howard and Maria's deaths had been avenged by their children and friends, meaning their ghosts could finally rest in peace at last.

* * *

Funerals had never been something that Natasha enjoyed, but she found it was something she needed for her father, mother, aunt and uncle as they were buried in a Jewish cemetery with a Rabbi saying a prayer in Hebrew softly while it snowed. Everyone wore black and Eva's blonde hair was covered partially in snow, to everyone's surprise, a few old friends of Yuri, Howard and Mikhail had come to pay their respects.

The funerals were held in Moscow, Russia, and everyone watched as the head of the Kremlin stood up and said a few words, he seemed genuinely sincere in his sadness for the deaths of Russia's two most brilliant scientists that had helped them. Anastasia and Marina's graves were next to their husbands, roses on their graves gently as everyone began to leave.

Natasha felt Clint squeeze her hand tightly before she put four roses on her family's graves, tears burning her eyes and she squeezed Eva's hand next as she went next.

"Thank you." Natasha whispered quietly to her father's grave, he had tried to protect her even though it had ultimately failed but her parents, aunt and uncle had loved her.

Eva put the roses on her family's grave, the wind blowing her blonde hair gently before she walked back to where Bucky was and he held her tightly.

Tony quietly went next and looked at the photo of his father and mother, before he swallowed and blinked back tears.

"Rest in peace Mom and Dad, I miss you." He said quietly and re-joined Pepper and Rhodey.

"Amen." The Rabbi said quietly.

* * *

With the threat of HYDRA now extinguished the team could finally get on with their lives. Clint and Natasha no longer had to keep their wedding on hold and had set a date for the following weekend. They felt they had waited long enough for this time to come, and they weren't about to wait any longer.

Tony had insisted on paying for almost everything, even though both Clint and Natasha argued, he wasn't having a bar of it. His exact words were. "I'm a billionaire. I'm wealthy, to the power of rich times infinitely loaded." Which made everybody laugh. The couple were set on holding the ceremony at Clint's farm, with just their small team of family and friends attending. Tony had arranged for the reception to be held at a beautiful restaurant in town and he had booked out the entire place to make sure they weren't interrupted. Everything was taken care of, from dresses to tuxedos, champagne to food. There was just one thing that was missing, and Natasha knew exactly what she needed to do.

She and Clint flew to the SHIELD base to see director Fury who was more than happy to give them his blessing. But that wasn't the only thing Natasha wanted. "Sir, I was wondering, since you're the closest thing I have to any sort of father figure, would you walk me down the aisle?"

"Romanoff I am truly honoured, but I don't think I'm quite the right man for the job. But I think I know someone who is..." he said, and just then the door behind them opened and in walked none other than Phil Coulson.

"Coulson!?" The pair exclaimed upon seeing the former team leader and friend who they thought was dead. "How the hell... we thought..." Natasha said still stunned.

"I was dead?" Coulson finished. "I kinda was, but now I'm not. And I hear you two are getting married!" He exclaimed as he offered the pair his congratulations.

"Romanoff was just saying she needs someone to walk her down the aisle..." Fury suggested, and Natasha looked at him hopefully.

"Me?" Coulson asked stunned. "Of course, I'd be honoured!" he said as he hugged her tightly. "Guess I better got get a tux." he laughed.

* * *

Clint had paid a quiet visit to his older brother, Barney's grave and placed some flowers on it, he swallowed.

"I miss you bro, I wish you were here but I know you're with mom and Emily, I forgive you Barney. Rest in peace." Clint said quietly and stroked the grave gently.

He hoped his brother was at peace.

* * *

All too soon, the wedding day came and after the women had their hair washed and styled they got Natasha ready for her big day, and Eva smiled widely at her cousin.

Her red hair was curled and her wedding dress was simple but elegant, a beautiful white dress with a v neck, she had red roses and red poppies in a nod to her Polish heritage from her mother's side of the family.

The bridesmaids all wore dark red dresses, with black silk shawls with black eyeshadow and Sharon made sure everything was ready before they turned to face Natasha.

"Ready, Nat?" Eva asked softly.

"As I'll ever be, Eva." Natasha said nervously and they smiled at her, Coulson arrived and he smiled at Natasha warmly as the photographer took photos.

"You look beautiful, Natasha." Coulson said with a smile and Natasha smiled at him softly, as he took her hand and they watched as Natasha's bridesmaids went first.

* * *

Clint waited somewhat nervously under the white pergola in the garden he had built just for the wedding. He had such trouble picking which of his team mates would be best man, but ultimately he went with Tony, as without all his help and planning, the wedding wouldn't have been possible so quickly. Steve, Sam and Bucky also stood by him as his other three groomsman.

Audrey, Coulson's cellist friend began to play some soft music the bridesmaids began to walk down the aisle, all the woman looked beautiful. Clint's heart raced within his chest as he saw Natasha emerge on the arm of Phil and she began to slowly walk towards him. She looked stunning. Her red curls fell softly around her beautiful face and her dress was gorgeous, he had never seen her look so amazing. A huge grin spread across his face at the sight of her walking down the aisle to him.

Phil gave her a kiss on the cheek and handed her over to Clint as he gave him a clap on the back before sitting in the front row, shortly after joined by Audrey who had finished playing. "Nat, you look amazing." Clint whispered to his bride.

"You scrub up pretty nice yourself." She grinned.

The celebrant began to speak and Clint and Natasha exchanged their short vowels. As requested by Natasha before the end of the ceremony she read out a Jewish prayer in honour of her family. When everything was done, the celebrant pronounced them husband and wife and they exchanged a passionate kiss while their small gathering of friends and family cheered loudly and the photographer snapped away.

Eva smiled as she watched Natasha and Clint celebrate their new life together, for a long time Eva had thought she was the only last member of her family but she had Natasha now and James. In that moment she grinned widely as she felt the presence of her unborn niece or nephew within Natasha's belly. She was going to make such a great mom.

The family would be just fine.

She felt James wrap his arms around her gently and she leaned into his embrace, a smile on her face as her hands laced with his flesh and metal hands.

Her winter soldier. Her lover, and partner.

"I am looking forward to our bright future, James." Eva said softly and James smiled.

"So am I, doll, so am I."

* * *

Clint and Natasha's honeymoon, would be spent around Europe and they would visit Stalingrad, Natasha's hometown. Natasha looked at the photos of her parents, and other relatives that Tony and the others had found, there was one of her as a baby with her parents. They all looked so happy. She had taken a pregnancy test a few days after their wedding after feeling a little off for a while and her and Clint were delighted to find out they were expecting a child.

They were finally all getting their happily ever after.

* * *

 _Enjoy and review :)_


	29. Family

**Summary:** Bucky is recaptured by HYDRA where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.

 **This is the end of Soldiers and Spies, me and Dixon - Vixen13 hope you have enjoyed the story.**

 **I have three other Avenger stories, that I am writing with my close friend WalkingPotterGirl14 and please check them out. It has been wonderful reading the reviews for this story.**

Soldiers and Spies

Chapter 29

* * *

After Clint and Natasha had celebrated their wedding and her pregnancy, Bucky and Eva began preparing for their own wedding. Bucky had Clint, Steve, and Sam as his groomsmen. Tessa, Natasha, Sharon and Pepper would be Eva's bridesmaids and Tony would be walking Eva down the aisle, the two had become very close and Tony would never say it but he loved Eva like a sister very much. Natasha was two months pregnant and due to the serum that was in her body, she was further along which also meant Eva would more than likely have similar things.

Bucky and Eva decided to have a Jewish/Catholic wedding with Hava Naglia as one of the main songs in tribute to her Jewish heritage.

"I remember that my parents would dance to this in the local synagogue in Dedovsk, they would dance with everyone." Eva said fondly and everyone smiled.

The food had been arranged and the only problem was the media, Christine Everhart had been constantly requesting for interviews with the Avengers, or at least interviewing Natasha, Eva and Bucky due to their pasts with the KGB.

"All we have to do now is make sure the press stay away." Bucky said easily as he wrapped an arm around Eva, she had started taking the medication that Dr Montgomery had prescribed her, thankfully she didn't suffer the headaches but she did have blurry vision for a couple of minutes.

Everything was going to be fine.

* * *

Deciding that enough was enough, the cousins decided to do the interview with Christine Everhart and they met up in a room to speak.

Eva wore a Per Losani Nico cut out back sweater that was in a dark burgundy colour, a grey Derek Lam printed skirt with a simple necklace, grey Trasparenze Osaka grey striped tights and dark green velvet Sergio Rossi high heels. Natasha wore a pair of comfortable black skinny jeans and a silk blouse, which showed her slight bump.

"So Natasha and Eva, what's it like being married, or soon to be married in Eva's case, and expecting a child in your line of work?" Christine asked politely.

"Well Christine, for us it is not much different than any other front line employee, like the police or the military. Sure there are risks, but we take every precaution to be safe. The day there are no longer bad people trying to destroy the world is the day we will no longer be needed as the Avengers." Natasha stated simply.

"Do you worry that people would use your children as leverage in a bad situation?" Christine asked.

"Of course we do Christine, we are enhanced humans, not monsters." Eva told her. "Even though Natasha's child is not born yet we have multiple security measures in place to protect them from anything like that."

"I see. And what about your pasts with the Red Room?"

"What about them?" Natasha asked simply. "We were only chidren, and our time in the Red Room, everything that happened there was out of our control. It is something we have accepted, and something that our partners and friends have accepted. We have all moved on, and I think the media needs to move on from it too. The past is in the past and that's where we would like it to stay." Natasha said frankly.

"So what's next for the Avengers?" Christine asked intrigued.

"Right now we are all just trying to live our lives with as much normalcy as we can." Eva stated. "I think everyone forgets that we are just people too. We want what everyone else wants. We want families and happiness. Of course if the world needs us we will be there to protect them, but other than that we are just all trying to lead normal lives around what we do."

"That's a very admirable thing to do, did you two know each other while in the Red Room?" Christine questioned curiously and the two cousins exchanged a smile.

"No, we didn't know that we were related until three months ago when a HYDRA scientist revealed that we were paternal first cousins. Tony did some investigating and discovered our fathers were brothers born in the Second World War." Natasha said softly.

"The famous Mikhail and Yuri Nikolayev of Russia?" Christine asked, genuinely impressed.

"Yes, Christine. Our fathers were Jewish and hid in the forests assisting people who were attempting to flee. The rest of our paternal family were not so fortunate, sadly they died." Eva said quietly, Natasha rubbing her shoulder.

"You have Polish and Ukraine heritage while Natasha has Polish and Belarus heritage?" Christine questioned.

"Someone has done their homework. Yes, our heritage is very mixed, our father's side of the family is of Russian/Polish descent while our mothers hailed from Belarus and Ukraine. My aunt Marina is half Polish while my mother is from Belarus. They both became close while prisoners in Auschwitz, they are lucky to have survived considering what horrors went on there." Natasha said firmly but with a hint of respect and pride.

Christine nodded.

"You have both been invited along with the rest of the team and Tony Stark to attend a Holocaust memorial service in Germany?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, we want to pay our respects to our ancestors and relatives who did not survive the camps. We both warmly embrace our Jewish ancestry, regardless of what Audrey Eastman says along with Robert Gonzales." Eva said calmly.

"You two and Tony Stark have been offered jobs with S.H.I.E.L.D, do you wish to take them?" Christine asked curiously.

"We have offered to be consultants and help on cases that are in our area, so far we are trying to help the young girls who have been victims of HYDRA." Natasha said firmly.

Christine looked impressed.

"And I believe Eva and James have...suffered some sadness?" The woman asked quietly.

"We have, we found out that due to the things HYDRA did to me it is unlikely that I can conceive naturally, however we have been assured that everything is alright and we can try with the help of fertility medication." Eva said softly.

Christine nodded.

"It must have been quite shocking, to learn you were both cousins." She said sympathetically.

"It was a bit of a shock at first, but Eva and I have a very strong connection. We are the only family each other has left and we are thankful for that every day." Natasha said softly.

"Well I think that concludes our interview ladies. Thank you very much for sitting down and talking with me, I'm glad could get a few things cleared up. And on behalf of America, and dare I say the rest of the world, thank you for all that you and the rest of the Avengers have done to keep us safe. We know it can't be an easy job, and just know that we all appreciate you." Christine said sincerely.

"Our pleasure." Eva smiled politely.

* * *

A few months down the track Natasha gave birth to a full term healthy baby boy, despite being only five months pregnant. The Red Room serum that she was given as a child which allowed her to heal at super speed, also aided in her baby to grow faster than normal, he was somewhat of a medical miracle. Tony made sure she had the best doctors in town and at her request she gave birth at her home in the Avengers tower. Tony had even gone to the trouble of building a special birthing suite in the tower just so Natasha wouldn't have to go to the hospital.

Clint was by Natasha's side the whole way through and the rest of the team waited nervously in the living room waiting to hear any news. While Natasha rested, Clint took his newly wrapped bundle of joy out to meet his little family. As he entered the room the whole team were on their feet at light speed and crowded around him. "Guys." Clint spoke up. "We would like to introduce to you, our beautiful son, 'Asher James Barton'." he grinned. "A.J for short." He added with a smile.

"Awww congratulations." Eva said as she gave them both a hug. "He's beautiful, and I love his name!"

"Asher means blessing, and James, well that's after his uncle of course." he grinned at Bucky.

"Oh man, I'm honoured Clint." Bucky gushed over the little bundle in his soon to be brother in law's arms.

* * *

Bucky and Eva's wedding came after three months of planning, they were holding the wedding at the local synagogue and would then be going to the Italian restaurant Bella Italia where they had their first date.

They were also planning on trying to conceive their baby on their honeymoon so Eva was being careful, while Bucky was excited about becoming a dad.

Eva had tried on the wedding dress, and it was a beautiful grey Jenny Packham beaded gown, and it hugged her figure perfectly as she smiled widely.

She was then overwhelmed by a sense of sadness and loss, her mother should be here, just like Natasha's mother should have been with Natasha on her wedding day and giving birth to Asher.

They had the rest of their family, and that was enough for Eva, and Natasha as she smiled at her cousin who was nursing AJ.

Bucky looked at himself in the mirror, he had showered and was now dressed in his black tuxedo and took in a deep breath before seeing Steve come in.

"You ready, Bucky?" Steve asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm ready Steve." Bucky said confidently and Steve smiled at him as they went to the synagogue where the wedding ceremony would be held. He waited with Steve, Clint, and Sam when they saw the girls coming down and Bucky felt his heart race when he saw Tony gently walking Eva down the aisle.

She looked beautiful, like an old 1940's Hollywood starlet with her long dark blonde hair gently curling around her face and wearing smoky eyeshadow. The bouquet of flowers was red poppies and camomile flowers, much like Natasha's in recognition towards her Eastern European heritage.

Tony gently handed her to Bucky as they stood underneath the Chuppah, Bucky held her hand tightly as his grandmother's sapphire wedding ring shone in the winter sunlight.

The Rabbi began to speak softly and Bucky couldn't take his eyes off Eva, the woman who had made him feel human.

The wedding went perfectly according to plan and Bucky and Eva couldn't have been happier. To be able to share their special day with their friends and family was a dream come true. The night of their wedding was filled with love, passion and desire as they took their time exploring one another's bodies before consummating their marriage, both of them secretly hoping this would be a lucky night for them and they would finally conceive the baby they so desperately wanted.

It was only a little over a month later when Eva felt violently ill that she knew something was different. Deep within her soul she just knew that she was carrying their baby. She took a test immediately and the happy couple waited rather impatiently for the results. After the recommended time had passed Eva picked up the test and they both stared at it in shock. Two pink lines... they were going to be parents! All of their hopes and dreams had just come true.

They wasted no time in getting checked by their fertility specialist who informed Eva, that much like Natasha her baby was growing at an accelerated rate due to the red room serum and she too could expect to be giving birth in around five months instead of the usual nine months. Once they knew that everything was ok, they rushed back to the tower to share the good news with the rest of the team. Everybody was so overjoyed and they celebrated with champagne, with the exception of Eva of course, and Natasha who was breastfeeding Asher.

Everyone knew that it was more than likely that Steve and Sharon would be next going down the aisle, Tony and Pepper were already married while Sam and Tess were going strong.

"What names have you got for the little ones?" Sharon asked curiously, Bucky and Eva had revealed that they were expecting twins and would now in the next scan what the sex was.

"Well if they're girls, we'll call them Marina and Rebecca, if they're both then their names will be Jericho and Cain." Eva said softly as Bucky took her hand, they had both agreed that their middle names would be after their teammates.

"What does Jericho mean?" Tess asked curiously, the name sounded unique and special.

"City of the moon, but Eva did want to name one of the babies if they are a boy after me but I put my foot down, besides little Asher has got that covered. We were hoping to use the names of their grandfather's though… if that's okay with you, Nat?" Bucky asked.

Asher burped and Natasha laughed, the baby boy cuddled her and Clint before yawning and falling asleep. "I think that sounds, great you guys." Natasha smiled.

* * *

Bucky held Eva's hand as they were in the room with their fertility specialist who was now checking on the twins, her name was Addison Montgomery and she was a very famous and dedicated OB/GYN to her patients.

"So that's your two boys, Bucky and Eva." Addison said warmly and sure enough, they saw two babies on the ultrasound moving around and hearing their heartbeats echoing in the room. Eva felt her eyes burn with tears, Bucky wiped them away and kissed her forehead, knowing how emotional this was for her.

She had truly thought that she couldn't bear James children due to the injuries that she had sustained after what Josef had done to her all those years ago. But now, she was going to be a mother.

"So everything is alright?" Eva asked anxiously, she knew there was risk of the twins getting TTTS which was Twin - to - twin - syndrome.

"Everything is fine, the babies are healthy but if you feel any pain or discomfort, please call me." Addison said softly.

The whole tower was buzzing with excitement at the news that Bucky and Eva were expecting twin boys. Their uncles Clint, Tony, Steve and Sam were already planning out all the fun things they wanted to do with the boys as they grew, they were very excited to have another two nephews soon joining Asher.

* * *

As expected Eva went into labour at a little over five months pregnant. Like Natasha she too wanted to use the birthing suite in the tower and they had Dr Montgomery with them, assisting with the birth. Bucky held Eva's hand tightly as wave after wave of contractions consumed her body, and when it was time to start pushing he told her how amazingly strong she was and encouraged her to push when the doctor gave the go ahead. After a very tense few moments baby boy number one was born, Bucky was allowed to cut the cord and he held his new born son wrapped up in a blanket as he kissed his wife on the forehead. "You're amazing Eva." He whispered. "Look at our beautiful boy."

"Jericho." She whispered to him between pants as she tried to catch her breath before another contraction hit. As it passed she caught her breath and told Bucky what she wanted his full name to be. "Jericho Mikhail Anthony Barnes." She said, honouring both the man she saw as a big brother and her uncle. "It's a perfect name my love." He said as he lifted the baby up to her so she could kiss him on his little head. "Hello my beautiful baby boy." She whispered with a tear in her eye.

She felt another contraction come and the doctor told her it was time to push for baby number two. Bucky held Jericho protectively in one arm while he held Eva's hand with the other as she pushed through the contractions. A few minutes passed by as well as a couple more intense contractions before they heard a cry and Dr Montgomery held up their second baby boy. Bucky handed Jericho to Eva and cut the cord, taking his second son in his arms and re-joining his wife.

"Cain." She smiled as she kissed the baby's forehead. "Cain Yuri Steven Barnes." She whispered.

"You did so well my love. Look at our perfect boys." Bucky grinned proudly.

When it was all over Bucky left Eva to rest for a moment with Dr Montgomery as he took his sons out to meet their family.

Natasha smiled at seeing her two nephews while Asher blinked in curiosity at the two new babies, he cooed and Clint laughed but Bucky saw tears in his eyes.

"Guys, this is Jericho Mikhail Anthony Barnes and his little brother Cain Yuri Steven Barnes. Say hello to your uncles and aunts, little guys." Bucky said lovingly.

Tony and Steve looked shocked that they had two nephews named after them while Natasha hugged Bucky tightly, he hugged her back and saw she was smiling. "Congratulations Bucky, how's Eva?" She asked softly but concerned as Bucky let everyone greet the boys.

"Tired but happy, it was tense for a minute though seeing as Cain had trouble coming out, but he's healthy. Just stubborn like his daddy." Bucky said softly and Tony walked over to him.

"You...you didn't have to name your kid after me, I'm not exactly a role model, Bucky." Tony said surprisingly emotional.

Bucky looked at him quietly.

"You saved Eva and Natasha, and god knows how many times you saved the world. Steve told me what the Ten Rings did to you, and you're a hero, Tony. Eva thinks of you, Steve, Sam and Clint as older brothers, and you're her friend." Bucky said firmly as he led them into the room where Eva was waiting to see them all. Eva was cleaned up and she smiled at Addison who smiled back at her warmly, there weren't any complications.

Everyone hugged her, and she noted that Tess, Sharon and Pepper had that maternal look in their eyes as they stared in awe at the boys, and Eva smiled at them, before winking. _'You'll make good moms someday, I know you three will.'_ Eva reassured them and they smiled at her widely, before Natasha hugged her tightly and she smiled back at her, before kissing Asher on the forehead who patted her cheek.

Bucky held her tightly and Eva smiled at everyone widely, cuddling Cain while Bucky held Jericho, the two smiled at their family that they had found.

"Here you two, hold your little namesakes." Eva said softly and handed Cain to Steve while James gave Jericho to Tony.

Both of them looked at the two babies in awe, Steve had become a very besotted uncle with Asher due to the baby constantly playing with his shield and Sharon's battle staves.

"Ninja babies." Clint said smugly.

Bucky looked around the room at his own little family as well as his adopted Avengers family. Never in a million years did he think he would be this lucky. He had everything he ever wanted in that very room and he had never been so happy.

* * *

 _We hope you have enjoyed the story, everyone and thank you for reviewing, following and adding the story to favourites. :)_


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